Egyptian Pound’s slide on parallel market widens difference with official exchange rate

By bne IntelliNews November 18, 2014

The Egyptian Pound continued its slide against major currencies on the parallel market widening the difference with the official exchange rate to 6.5%, Al Ahram official newspaper reported. A US Dollar that was sold for EGP7.30 in the summer currently fetches EGP7.62 on the parallel market compared to EGP7.15 within the official banking system.

Analysts are attributing the building-up of depreciative pressures on the Egyptian Pound over the past month, at a time when foreign currency earnings are increasing from a rebound in the tourism sector, to the central bank’s need to save as much foreign currency as possible to repay a $2.5bn Qatari deposit falling due at the end of November.

However, market sources told that local gold bullion traders taking advantage of the sharp drop in international gold prices have stocked-up on the metal driving the exchange rate lower in the process. The central bank has reacted with administrative measures of temporarily shutting down 13 foreign exchange bureaus with the governor of the bank promising to eliminate the parallel market within a year. 

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