The rupee in Egypt

# Arabic_Readings_in_Foreign_Newspapers

The British newspaper The Times published an article in 1916 entitled: The Rupee in Egypt

A correspondent for the London Times reported that Egypt had begun using the Indian rupee as an acceptable currency due to a shortage of silver coins and the increasing number of troops in the region (during World War I). A considerable number of newly minted coins had been imported the previous year, but they were insufficient to meet demand. The correspondent also reported that several orders placed with England had been lost at sea. Because it would take time to replace these coins, the Egyptian government, in agreement with the Indian and British governments, decided to use the Indian rupee for circulation within Egypt. The Ministry of Finance imported a large quantity of silver rupees for immediate circulation.

The exchange rate for the Indian rupee was set at 6.5 piastres (the Egyptian piastre is equivalent to 2.5 British pennies), and the British gold pound was equivalent to 97.5 piastres. However, to make this experiment a success, gold pieces had to be in circulation, but unfortunately, they were not put into circulation yet. The Egyptian paper pound was adopted as the standard, and the Egyptian pound was equivalent to 100 piastres. Therefore, there was no whole number to be exchanged for rupees during the transaction process in the markets (for clarification: the Egyptian gold pound is equivalent to 15 rupees, which is a whole number, while the paper pound is equivalent to 15.3 rupees, which is a number containing fractions).

Apart from that, there are no other problems with trading the Indian rupee. There was also a proposal to use the English shilling in trading in the markets (instead of the rupee) at a rate of 5 Egyptian piasters, overlooking the small difference in conversion (4.875 Egyptian piasters), but there is not a sufficient quantity to supply to Egypt.

This system is in place temporarily until a sufficient quantity of new coins is minted in England and shipped to Egypt. The decision only includes the silver Indian rupee and does not include any of the small pieces of fractional rupees.