By Ahmed Allam
Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian pound (EGP) kept retreating against US dollar in the black market after standing at 12.25 per dollar on Thursday, according to traders in exchange bureaus preferred to remain anonymous.
This jump came after the central bank’s governor hinted at a possible devaluation of the local currency on last Wednesday, the traders pointed out.
“Now is not the right time to tackle the flotation of the Egyptian pound. Yet, devaluation rests on what the bank sees appropriate”, the governor Tarek Amer said in comments carried by the State News Agency MENA.
The traders assured that the unofficial exchange rate against US dollar moved higher by 12-20 piasters to settle at EGP 12.15-12.25/ US dollar for selling and EGP 11.80-12.05/US dollar for buying.
Meanwhile, the official exchange rate stands at EGP8.87 per dollar for buying and EGP8.88 per dollar for selling, according to data by the National Bank of Egypt.
“Demand on dollar is enormous. This is why the parallel market’s rate soared again. After talks rose over devaluation, exchange rates ticked new high levels that made traders hold dollar”, said Emad Gamal an exchange bureau CEO.
Last month, the central bank surprisingly devalued the local currency against US dollar by 14.5% to 8.95.
Translated by Ahmed Elsayed Ali
