By: Mahmoud Salah El-Deen
Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's currency parallel market saw no change in the Egyptian pound value (EGP) against US dollar on Tuesday, according to three traders in different exchange bureaus, who preferred to remain anonymous.
The US dollar exchange rate settled at EGP 12.50 to EGP 12.55 for purchase and EGP 12.70 to EGP 12.75 for sale with some spreads based on the geographic location, the traders told Mubasher.
"The black market's activity will not stop as long as the official channels are still suffering an imbalance between supply and demand", a trader said, stressing that "the government has to be the only authentic authority that fully meets importers' need for hard currency."
Yesterday, the US dollar exchange rate (XE) remained unchanged at EGP 8.78 in the regular FX auction held every Tuesday.
"The demand for foreign currency is huge as it is being requested by major commercial institutions", a trader added.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Monday sold $118 million out of $120 million to banks in the regular FX auction.
Earlier, the government announced it would issue EGP 121.25 billion ($13.63 billion) in treasury bills and bonds during August, higher 45.6% year-over-year from EGP 83.25 billion ($9.36 billion).
