The median overnight rate on Egypt's pound rose to 9-1/2 percent on Sunday from 8-1/4 percent on Thursday with rates driven higher by banks trying to meet central bank reserve ratio requirements, bankers said.
The central bank measures banks' reserve ratio requirements over a two-week period which ends on Monday. "It appears many banks have left meeting their reserve requirements to the last two days," one banker said.
The average rate at the auction last week was 9.382 percent, higher than the average yield of 7.807 percent at last week's 91-day treasury bill auction.
Five of eight banks contacted by Reuters had dealt overnight at rates ranging from 8-1/2 to 9-3/4 percent, compared with between eight and 9-1/4 percent on Thursday.
Two of the banks had dealt for one-week at rates of 8-1/2 and nine percent. One-week rates ranged from 8-1/8 to 8-3/4 on Thursday. The overnight CAIBOR rate rose to 7.7720 percent from 7.6772 on Thursday. The one-week CAIBOR rose to 8.1369 percent from Thursday's 8.1012 percent.
On the official foreign exchange market, the pound last traded against the dollar at a midrate of 6.19 in banks and foreign exchange bureaux, unchanged from Thursday's closing weighted average.
One market source said the dollar would buy between 6.55 and 6.70 pounds on the black market. Another said the greenback would fetch 6.56 pounds, within a broad spread of rates heard on Thursday.
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