(Abdelazim Saafan/DNE Photo)
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) sold $281m Sunday on the interbank market to cover all pending essential commodity requests of banks, the CBE announced.
The CBE has taken steps to increase the supply of the US dollar in the Egyptian market, which started in December 2014. The bank raised the weekly dollar FX auctions to four times a week instead of three, with bids offered every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The change meant that the bank raised bids of $40m four times a week, to supply a total of $160m, instead of $120m that were supplied over a three-day period before.
This Sunday and on 1 March, larger amounts than the usual were supplied, where at the beginning of March the CBE sold $420m in the interbank market.
Furthermore, the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) arranged with the CBE to open an overdraft account in dollars for importers, so that they are able to receive their imported goods. This comes in case the bank cannot provide them with the required foreign currency, Mohamed Al-Suwaidi, Chairman of FEI, told Daily News Egypt in mid-March.
