The Egyptian pound continued its decline against foreign currencies at banks on Thursday, as the US dollar hit EGP 18.25 for selling at most governmental and private banks.
The US dollar exchange rate against the pound witnessed huge fluctuations during this week, starting from EGP 17 for selling and ending at EGP 18.25 per $1, while banks started to provide US dollars to importers of non-basic goods.
On Tuesday, the average price of the US dollar reached EGP 17.75 for selling and EGP 17.55 for buying at several banks, down from EGP 18.25 and EGP 17.90 respectively on Wednesday.
The dollar recorded EGP 17.85 for selling and EGP 17.6 for buying at the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), while it registered EGP 17.85 for selling and EGP 17.60 for buying at Banque Misr.
The dollar price reached its highest rate at HSBC, up to EGP 18.25 for selling and EGP 17.80 for buying.
The price of the US dollar according to the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) exchange rates on Thursday registered EGP 17.74 for buying, and EGP 18.15 for selling. This is the official price of the US dollar for customs transactions.
The banks continued to offer high prices for buying the greenback to attract customers and halt the informal market.
Since 6 November, banks have been allowed to determine the foreign currency exchange rates according to the supply and demand mechanism, after the CBE decided to float the pound on 3 November.
Since then, the foreign currency exchange rates fluctuate daily.
