The Egyptian currency appreciated by EGP 0.13 against the US dollar on Wednesday.
The average exchange of the American currency recorded EGP 18.3206 for buying and EGP 18.4206 for selling, down from Tuesday’s EGP 18.4508 and EGP 18.5483.
Similarly, the official price of the USD at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) declined, recording EGP 18.3027 for buying and EGP 18.4349 for selling.
Over the past two days, the USD appreciated by EGP 2.78. This followed the CBE’s decision to raise interest rates by 1% in a move that Tarek Amer — the CBE’s Governor — said will preserve Egypt’s financial capabilities.
According to Amer, the decision will maintain foreign exchange liquidity in order to secure the needs of Egyptian society in light of the difficult international conditions.
Mohamed El-Etreby — the Chairperson of Banque Misr — revealed that the volume of customers’ demand for selling USDs increased by 60% during the first two days of the CBE’s decision to raise interest rates.
El-Etreby added that the rise in the value of the USD encouraged customers to sell it, and that he saw this in all Banque Misr’s branches
Al-Ahly Exchange Company — a subsidiary of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) — said that the proceeds of concessions from foreign currencies to the company increased by 50% in the previous two days, compared to the average rate of concessions during the last period.
The company told state-owned Middle East News Agency that by the end of the first day the company collected $4m, after an average of $1.2m per day earlier. It added that the volume of euros increased four-folds as well, amounting to €3m.
Furthermore, the NBE and Banque Misr issued a one-year savings certificate with a return of 18%, and according to the latest figures issued by the two banks, the proceeds of this certificate amounted to EGP 105bn after three days.
El-Etreby added that Banque Misr’s total proceeds from selling new certificates with a return of 18% reached EGP 33bn.
Moreover, Yahia Aboul-Fotouh — the Vice Chairperson of the NBE — said that the NBE’s total proceeds from selling these certificates amounted to EGP 72bn.
