Egyptian pound steady

Egypt's central bank kept the pound steady at a dollar sale on Sunday, as it sold $37.8 million at a cut-off price of 7.9301 pounds per dollar. The pound strengthened, however, on the parallel market. The official cut-off price was unchanged from Thursday's dollar sale but one trader said the dollar changed hands at 8.25 pounds in the parallel market, lower than Thursday's rate of 8.50 pounds to the dollar.
Egypt announced on Wednesday that central bank governor Hesham Ramez will be replaced by senior banker Tarek Amer, in a move welcomed by traders who expect a new approach to help ease the country's currency crisis.
Egypt has sought to tame a once-thriving currency black market with measures such as a cap on dollar-denominated bank deposits.