Egyptian pound steady on official, black markets

19 Feb, 2014

CAIRO: The Egyptian pound was unchanged at a central bank foreign currency sale on Wednesday and traded within its recent range on the black market.

The central bank sold $39.6 million to banks with a cut-off price of 6.9512 pounds to the dollar, unchanged from the last auction on Monday.

The bank had offered to sell $40 million. On the black market, the dollar was traded for 7.33/7.35 pounds on Wednesday, having stayed within a range between 7.30 and 7.35 since last week.

The pound has been under pressure during three years of political turmoil.

Foreign currency reserves were around $17 billion in January, down from $36 billion before the uprising that led to president Hosni Mubarak's downfall in 2011.

The central bank introduced dollar currency sales over a year ago. Last month, it held a $1.5 billion exceptional auction, its largest ever, to restock the market with dollars and curb unofficial currency trading.

Read Comments