The official and parallel foreign exchange markets have been in a state of paralysis in the exchange of dollars, in anticipation of the new Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) decisions.
The price of the dollar at the black market has stabilised at EGP 8.30 on average for both buying and selling, while banks have maintained the dollar price at EGP 7.98 for buying and EGP 8.03 for selling, according to a survey conducted by Daily News Egypt.
On Tuesday, the CBE decided to maintain the dollar price against the pound. This was the CBE’s third tender to sell dollars to banks after Hisham Ramez’s resignation as CBE governor and the appointment of Tarek Amer. The CBE’s official rate stands at EGP 7.9301.
The CBE recently depreciated the pound by 20 piasters in two stages.
In the parallel exchange market, the price of the dollar against the pound was at EGP 8.60 for buying and EGP 8.65 for selling prior to Ramez’s resignation. However, the price began to decline following the resignation, where earlier this week it recorded EGP 8.15.
A market trader said the dollar price has been increasing in the black market on Monday and Tuesday, as it has been seeing a demand, anticipating further devaluation of the pound, where on Tuesday it recorded about EGP 8.30.
Mohammed Al-Abyad, head of the General Division for exchange companies in the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), told Daily News Egypt the exchange market is expected to see more stability in the coming period, and for the dollar price to drop on the back of Ramez’s resignation.
Wael Badawy, General Manager of the Egyptian-Saudi Exchange, said the market has been in complete paralysis in transactions over the past four days.
He added that dollar holders are waiting for a price increase before they decide to sell, while dollar seekers are awaiting the CBE’s decisions, which may reduce the exchange price.
Moreover, Haitham Abdel Fattah, Director General of the Treasury of the Industrial Development and Workers Bank, said fixing the dollar price three times in a row is a strong indicator of the stability of the dollar against the pound in the official market, at least until the end of the year.
