Egypt Offers Banks US$40 Million At FX Auction
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has offered US$ 40 million to local banks on Wednesday at its 48th FX Auction and the 32nd one since Hisham Ramez was named the governor of the CBE last February.
On Sunday, Egypt’s central bank sold a record $600 million to local lenders to finance imports of basic commodities such as wheat after the cash-strapped government secured a $3 billion support pledge from Qatar.
The regulator sold all of the dollars it offered at the exceptional auction at a weighted average of 6.872 pounds each, a 0.2 percent depreciation for the local currency from the last currency sale on April 11.
Upon Sunday’s exceptional offer, the Central Bank has offered around US$ 1.88 billion to local banks since Ramez hold the governor office. The CBE’s offers have given the black market heavy blow driving the US dollar’s price to decline from EGP 7.95 to EGP 7.30 against the Egyptian pound; while it was steadied in banks and forex firms at EGP 6.91.
