The US dollar exchange rate continued its rise against the Egyptian pound for the third day in a row to register at EGP 7.30 to the dollar on Wednesday in the official market. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced that it raised the value of USD to decrease the gap between the black and official markets. The USD's dramatic jump in recent days aroused concerns among exchange offices that the value in the black market would rise even higher from a record rate of EGP 7.92 on Tuesday. In another move to control the black market, the CBE raised the number of weekly bids on the dollar for local banks from four to five on Tuesday. Each bid is worth $40 million. The CBE's decision hopes to increase the amount of dollars held by Egyptian banks in order to face increasing demand by businesses for lines of credit.
