By: Al Sayed Soliman
Cairo – Mubasher: US dollar prices increased against the Egyptian pound on Friday in the Egyptian banks that opened for the citizens to exchange currency, for the first time in history, after the floating decision.
The purchasing price of US dollar jumped to EGP 15.35 in Banque Misr from EGP 14.75 on Thursday, while the margin selling and buying shrank to EGP 0.20 on Friday from EGP 1 yesterday.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided on Thursday floating the Egyptian pound freely, in an attempt to reform the exchange rate in a country imports all its needs.
The CBE put a reference price for the US dollar around the levels of EGP 13.75, giving the banks a 10% margin.
The US dollar price reached EGP 15.1 in the Commercial International Bank (CIB), while it reached EGP 14.8 for buying and 15.75 for selling in Alexandria Bank Sao-Paulo.
Traders are still awaiting the price that will be determined in the black market.
"There is currently no selling or buying outside the banks.. some bought the US dollar for around EGP 18 and the proposed price by the bank does not compensate their losses," a trader who preferred to be anonymous told Mubasher on Friday.
On Tuesday, the US dollar price reached EGP 18.5 before retreating sharply after the CBE announced that importers halted import.
Translated by: Sara Ghali
