Top-Performing Arab Economy Balks at Currency Float on Egypt
- Moroccans buy dollars, euros on fears dirham will weaken
- Government has delayed IMF-backed plan to liberalize currency
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In five decades of importing steel wires, Zahar Benmoussa’s company never worried about currency risks -- until Morocco announced plans to float the dirham.
“For the first time in our history, we started to hedge” in the currency market, said Benmoussa, managing director at Casablanca-based Grillages Marocains. Across Morocco, fears of a weaker dirham triggered a rush for dollars and euros, causing a $3 billion drop in its reserves in just three months this year.