The price of the Egyptian pound significantly increased against the US dollar on Wednesday. The official price at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) reached EGP 17.0422 for buying and EGP 17.633 for selling, down from Tuesday’s rates of EGP 17.417 for buying and EGP 17.8427 for selling.
The dollar price also dropped at a number of banks in the domestic market, especially state-owned banks, ranging between EGP 16.9-17.1 for buying and EGP 17.35 for selling.
Banks trimmed down the margin between the buying and selling prices on Wednesday to about EGP 0.20, compared to EGP 0.50 in the first days of flotation.
According to Tamer Youssef, head of the treasury at a foreign bank operating in Egypt, the market has been dominated by optimism since Tuesday night, following news that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan will be signed imminently and the first tranche will be received in the coming week.
He added that the exchange market is very sensitive to any positive or negative news; the good news led the price of the national currency up. He noted that the drop in the greenback value in international markets—in the wake of Donald Trump winning the US presidency—also influenced the price.
He stressed that the exchange market will soon become stable, anticipating a considerable appreciation of the national currency within three months.
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