Egypt black-market pound climbs despite central bank’s FX bid

Egyptian pound weakened to a record Sunday despite the central bank’s $500 million exceptional foreign exchange auction.

The pound’s street rate fell to 9.75 per dollar, from 9.60 on Saturday, according to the average of quotes from dealers in the country.

Egypt’s central bank announced earlier Sunday holding an exceptional auction for $500 million, pumping more foreign exchange into an economy that has been starved of dollars.

The central bank normally sells no more than $40 million at its regular forex auctions, which are held three times a week.