Egypt will lower its customs exchange rate to EGP16 per USD from 16.25, effective September 1, Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy told Reuters.

Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy notes, “The new rate will be set for one month.”

The country began setting a monthly fixed customs exchange rate back in January 2017, following the flotation of its currency last November. The Egyptian currency traded at an average of EGP 17.7 to USD.

El- Garhy adds that the customs exchange rate is being set at about 90 percent of the currency’s market value and the reduction is “in line with the currency price’s downward movement over the last period,” he says.