CAIRO: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) hold the pound steady at 7.73 per dollar in a foreign exchange auction on Tuesday, unchanged from last sale on Thursday, the bank posted on its website.
Earlier in July, the CBE allowed the local currency to weaken in two depreciations in less than a week each by 10 piasters, after keeping it steady at 7.53 per dollar for five straight months.
The move dragged the pound to its lowest level since the CBE started FX auctions in December 2012.
“The bank offered $40 million and sold 37.5 million at a cutoff price of 7.73 EGP per dollar,” the central bank said Tuesday.
The dollar was sold at banks at 7.83 EGP on Tuesday, 0.10 EGP above the official rate.
Egypt’s central bank usually holds foreign exchange auctions on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday every week. Such auctions determine the rates at which banks can sell the dollar to clients.