Egypt banks’ interbank trading volumes hit $10.7 mln since start of April – c.bank

Banks in Egypt have registered interbank trading volumes worth 184.1 million Egyptian pounds ($10.7 million) since the start of the month, data from the central bank showed on Monday.

The Egyptian pound strengthened slightly by around 15 piasters since the start of the month. Banks were selling the pound at an average of 17.2242 to the dollar and buying it at around 17.1242 compared with a sell price of 17.3733 and a buy price of 17.2733 at the end of last March.

The interbank market was reactivated in early November 2016 following a central bank decision to ditch the currency peg of 8.8 pounds to the U.S. dollar in a policy shift designed to crush a black market and clinch an International Monetary Fund loan.

The interbank market was stagnant in the first few months after the pound float as banks struggled to meet pent up dollar demand from their own clients. The step led the pound to devalue to almost 20 per dollar in December 2016, but in February 2017 inflows poured in and banks began selling excess dollars on the interbank market.