Egypt's central bank kept the pound's exchange rate steady at 7.53 to the dollar at a foreign exchange auction on Sunday where it offered $100 million, a significant jump from amounts usually offered. The central bank said the amount was needed "to cover a pending backlog due for payment for the import of raw materials, production requirements and spare parts".
The bank usually offers around $40 million at each of its regular auctions, held each week on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
The bank said it sold $98.6 million at Sunday's auction at a cut-off price of 7.5301 pounds per dollar, unchanged from Thursday's rate.
The pound was trading at 7.67/68 pounds to the dollar on the black market on Sunday, two traders said, largely in line with Thursday's rate of 7.68. A third trader said the rate had strengthened to 7.63.