Egyptian pound steady

The Egyptian pound held steady at a central bank dollar sale on Thursday but remained weaker on the black market. The bank offered $40 million at the sale and said it had sold $37.5 million at a cut-off price of 7.1401 pounds to the dollar, a rate unchanged from its last sale. The rates at which banks are allowed to trade dollars are determined by the results of central bank sales, giving the bank effective control over official exchange rates.
In the unofficial market, one money changer said the pound was trading at 7.80 on Thursday. That was weaker than levels around 7.75 to the dollar reported on Monday but the trader said the pound had subsequently dipped to about 7.81 on Tuesday and now appeared to be steadying. The central bank introduced a fourth weekly dollar auction in December, as part of an effort to curb a flourishing currency black market after the gap between the official and unofficial rates widened. The move has so far failed to narrow the gap.