CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound rose to 8.24 percent on Tuesday from 8.058 percent on Monday, sidelined by a Central Bank auction of seven-day certificates, bankers said.
The bankers said liquidity was lower because banks had little interest in dealing in the interbank market due to a preference for the Central Bank certificates, worth LE 8.48 billion and yielding 8.45 to 8.6 percent.
Tuesday also marks the beginning of a new two-week period for calculating bank reserves, and rates generally rise at the start of that period.
This is a new reserve period and there is a central bank auction. It is draining liquidity, one trader said.
Five out of 10 banks contacted by Reuters had dealt in overnight money, at between 8.1 and 8.4 percent, compared with a range of 8.05 to 8.1 percent on Monday.
Two of the banks said they dealt one-week money at 8.15 and 8.4 percent. The banks did not report one-week deals on Monday.
The pound was unchanged at 10:00 GMT at LE 5.7580 to the dollar, the same as Monday s closing weighted average. Reuters
