The Egyptian pound "has been strengthened" against the US dollar in the Central Bank's exceptional auction held earlier on Wednesday to sell $1.5 billion to banks, a senior CBE official said to Ahram Online without providing further details. Reuters reported that the CBE increased the pound's value by 0.07 to reach 8.78 per dollar, citing six unnamed bankers. The increase in the value of the country's local currency came two days after the CBE's decision to adopt a more flexible exchange rate, depreciating the pound by 14 percent against the dollar from the previous rate of 7.73. The auction is the third of its kind this week, with the intent to clear import-related debt in the midst of a hard currency crunch. The aim is to clear 100 percent of customer debt incurred by local banks in financing essential imports, CBE governor Tarek Amer told Al-Ahram Arabic news website on Tuesday. The CBE has sold $396.4 million to the banks at special auctions over the past two days at a cut-off price of EGP 8.85 per dollar. The consecutive auctions are designed to "eradicate" Egypt's currency black market, said Amer, referring to a parallel market that has flourished as the CBE defended the pound following the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak and caused political and economic turmoil. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/193134.aspx
