The Egyptian pound weakened against the dollar on the black market, market sources said on Sunday, after rumours that the central bank was selling dollars to support the currency proved untrue.
Three market sources told Reuters on Sunday the dollar could buy between 6.70 and 6.80 pounds on the black market, versus 6.55 to 6.60 pounds on Thursday. One source on Sunday said the rate was still around 6.45 pounds.
Since late January, the pound had gained in value on the parallel market after traders said seasonal demand for dollars dropped after the end of the Muslim Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, pushing speculators out of the market.
They also said that despite the rumours about the central bank there was no sign of surplus dollars in the market.
The pound has lost about a quarter of its value against the dollar since its flotation in January last year.
On the official foreign exchange market, the pound was last traded at a mid-rate of 6.19 to the dollar in banks and exchange bureaux, unchanged from Thursday's closing average.
Meanwhile on the Egyptian pound interbank market, only one of 20 banks contacted by Reuters had traded overnight money at a rate of 7-1/2 percent, compared with a range of seven to 7-3/4 percent on Thursday.
A new two-week central bank period to calculate banks' reserves began on March 16.
Five banks dealt for one week at rates of 7-3/4 and eight percent versus Thursday's range of 7-1/4 to eight percent.
The overnight CAIBOR rate rose to 7.6878 from 7.6469 percent on Thursday. The one-week CAIBOR was up at 8.0714 from 8.0476 percent the previous session.