BD workers in Egypt in trouble as currency falls

Staff Reporter :
Several thousand Bangladeshi Diasporas in Egypt have fallen in trouble due to further fall of the country’s currency Pound against the US dollar.
“We are in trouble as the Egyptian Pound fell again against the US dollar. It began several months ago, one US dollar can be found exchanging 18 Egyptian Pound. After the further decline of 18pc of the Pound price, now 25 Pound needed to get one US dollar,” said Abu Baker, a Bangladesh Diaspora living in Cairo.
Earlier, one US dollar was found exchanging eight Egyptian Pounds.
But after the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the foreign currency reserve in the Egypt started declining.
Billions of US dollars had declined in the last several months.
As a result, the Egypt central bank declined the value of the country’s currency Pound.
Since then, the value of Egyptian Pound becomes weaker constantly.
Bangladeshi Diasporas said that there are about 15,000 Bangladeshi workers in the country.
Most of them are working in readymade garments factories.
Many of them are involved in small business there.
Their days were fine in the country, but recent price fall of Pound have fell them in deep crisis.
“When the Egyptian Pound was remained strong, the businessmen were fallen happy to recruit foreign workers. Because, the values of Pound and US dollar were not so huge differences,” said Akmal Hossain, a Bangladeshi worker living in Sharm-El-Sheikh.
Akmal said after the devaluation of the Pound, Egyptian businessmen can hire three local workers against one foreign staff.
Besides, one foreign worker cost one to one and a half thousand US dollar for getting and renewal a work permit.
On the other hand, an Egyptian worker needs not cost such an amount.
In these circumstances, the Bangaldeshi migrant workers in the Egypt are now facing huge trouble due to the devaluation of the Pound, Akmal said.
Many of the Bangladeshi Diasporas are now living with fear of losing work due to the devaluation of the Pound, they said.