CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound surged to 9.65 percent on Tuesday from 8.815 percent on Monday with many banks opting to bid on central bank certificates of deposit (CDs), traders said.
I didn t deal at all today because I ve entered the auctions, one trader said. Central bank auctions for typically higher-yielding CDs or treasury bills tend to push interbank rates higher as banks temporarily shun the market.
The central bank was holding auctions for 8 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) worth of 7-day CDs and 10 billion pounds worth of 50-day CDs on Tuesday.
Three out of 11 banks contacted by Reuters reported overnight deals, at rates between 9 and 9.9 percent, compared with a range of between 8.82 and 8.875 percent on Monday.
Three banks reported dealing in one-week money at rates between 9.5 and 9.75 percent, compared with one bank dealing at rates between 9.65 and 9.75 percent on Monday.
By 1 pm local time (1100 GMT), the pound had strengthened to 5.7033 pounds to the U.S. dollar from Monday s closing weighted average of 5.7043 pounds. ($1 = 5.70 Egyptian pounds)
