CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on Egypt s pound dipped to 8.85 percent on Monday from 9.148 percent on Sunday on the last day of a central bank period for calculating bank reserves, traders said. It (the market) is liquid because we are at the end of the reserve period, and more than 90 percent of the banks have squared their positions, one dealer said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. Rates tend to decline at the end of the two-week period, especially in the absence of large central bank auctions for treasury bills or certificates of deposit. The central bank was auctioning LE 1.5 billion ($263 million) in 182-day treasury bills on Monday, but the auction was not large enough to push rates higher, traders said. Six out of eight banks contacted by Reuters reported overnight deals at rates between 8.8 and 9 percent, compared with a range of between 8.9 and 9.25 percent on Sunday. By 1 pm local time (1100 GMT), the pound had strengthened slightly to LE 5.7017 to the US dollar from Sunday s closing weighted average of LE 5.7020 ($1=5.7017).
