The dollar price stabilised on Monday after increasing two times on Thursday and Sunday by 20 piasters. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) set a price of EGP 7.9301, while banks boosted it to EGP 7.98 for buying and EGP 8.03 for selling.
The market is awaiting the CBE’s next step on Tuesday during the tender to sell dollars to banks operating in Egypt, through which the exchange rate is decided.
The CBE has scheduled three tenders to sell dollars to banks on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday of each week.
Analysts told Daily News Egypt that the dollar is expected to keep rising against the pound, while others believe it will be the same scenario that took place in July, where the CBE increased the price by 20 piasters twice and then kept it stable for almost three months.
The CBE raised the price of the dollar for the fourth time this year on Thursday by 10 piasters then again by 10 piasters on Sunday.
Analysts anticipated that the dollar will reach EGP 8.25 within three months to reach EGP 8.5 by the end of the first half of 2016.
In the near future, the price of the dollar is expected to increase to EGP 10.4 in annual contracts, EGP 9.6 in biannual contracts, EGP 8.75 in quarterly contracts and to EGP 8.50 in two-months contracts.
The future increases reflect foreign investors’ vision on the real value of the pound against the dollar in light of the available hard currency resources. Profit or loss is calculated at the delivery date through the difference of price between the one agreed upon in the contract and the actual exchange price at the time.
CBE Governor Hisham Ramez had said in his remarks on Sunday that he would not back down on controlling the exchange market, and will not leave the economy and the citizen in the hands of currency traders.
Ramez said the CBE does not hide dollars, but rather manages the state’s resources of hard currency in accordance with the available sum. He noted that its decisions on the exchange market are based on its data and information, in accordance with a monetary policy aimed at achieving balance.
