CBE Offers US$ 40 Mln To Local Banks At FX Auction

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) offers US$ 40 million to local banks on Thursday, with a maximum of US$ 6 million to each bank at its 28^th FX auction and the 12^th one since the appointment of Hisham Ramez, governor of CBE, sources said.

The maximum value of dollars offered at FX auctions was US$ 75 million, while the market requires US$ 110 million on a daily basis as stated by Mahmoud Fayez, former manager of the Federation of Egyptian Banks (FEB).

Sources expected CBE to continuously reduce the value of dollars offered at FX auctions as it was offering US$ 75 million, then US$ 50 million at two auctions and US$ 40 million at the latest auctions, bringing the amount that CBE offered since the appointment of Ramez to US$ 535 million.

Sources attributed this decision to the current deteriorated economic situation as the country’s foreign reserves fell to US$ 13 billion.

Ramez said in an interview on CBC channel that CBE reduced the value of dollars offered at auctions so as to meet the country’s requirements of main commodities imports.

The values that CBE offered in FX auctions under the leadership of Hisham Ramez are as follows: