CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound fell to 8.10 percent on Sunday from 8.118 percent on Thursday as demand dropped in the middle of a period for calculating banks reserves, traders said. Rates dipped because banks were not in need of funds in the middle of the two-week central bank period and were waiting for coming auctions, the traders said. We are waiting for Tuesday s CBE Notes auction, one of the traders said, adding rates in recent auctions of Central Bank of Egypt Notes had been more attractive than auctions of treasury bills. We are in the middle of the reserve period so we are in no hurry to get into auctions today … We will wait for the CBE notes, the trader added. The present reserve period will end on May 22 and a new one will begin the following day. Five out of the 12 banks contacted by Reuters traded overnight money on Sunday at rates of between 8.05 and 8.20 percent. Four banks traded overnight money at rates of between 8.1 and 8.25 percent on Thursday. The central bank sets a corridor for overnight interbank rates by offering to borrow funds from banks at 8 percent and to lend to them at 10 percent. None of the banks had dealt one-week money on Sunday or Thursday. The pound had weakened slightly against the dollar by 10:00 GMT to LE 5.7648 to the dollar from Thursday s general weighted average of LE 5.7644. Reuters
Interbank rate falls to 8.10 percent
