Egypt central bank to hold $4 billion auction to cover imports on pound float

Egypt’s central bank will hold Thursday an exceptional auction for $4 billion, senior banking sources told Amwal Al Ghad this morning.

The auction is to help cover importers’ pending foreign currency financing needs, following a move to freely float local currency.

The auction would be held at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).

Egypt’s central bank announced on Thursday the flotation of the Egyptian pound, setting an initial guidance rate of 13 pounds to the dollar for the banking community until its exceptional auction takes place.

An exceptional auction is scheduled to take place at 13:00 Cairo time on Thursday. The currency rate will be decided by the market’s supply and demand forces.

The Central Bank of Egypt also hiked interest rates by 300 basis points for “one night only” to rebalance currency markets, according to its press release.