The US dollar had ended this week slightly higher to reach EGP 6.74 (buy price) and EGP 6.7704 (sell price), compared to Wednesday's levels of EPG 6.7391 (buy price) and EGP 6.7692 (sell price). Belal Khalil - Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Exchange Division of the Federation of the Chamber of Commerce, said the dollar's rise coincides with Egyptian Central Bank's 28th FX auction on Thursday worth US$40 million to local banks. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) offers US$ 40 million to local banks on Thursday, with a maximum of US$ 6 million to each bank at its 28th FX auction and the 12th one since the appointment of Hisham Ramez, governor of CBE, sources said. Khalil further noted that the country's foreign exchange market is witnessing a growing demand for foreign currencies amid the dollar liquidity shortage in the market due to the deficit in the EU and Arab currencies which are transferred to US dollars by the local banks. The increase in the US currency's price comes after 14-week steady at EGP 6.76 (sell price) after the Central Bank Governor Hisham Ramez has cancelled the 1% commission that had been placed on banks and forex firms, limiting the number of currency auctions to just two a week, and limiting the range of rates at which banks could sell and buy currency from one another. Upon his instructions, the central bank has also tightened the pound's trading band in the interbank foreign exchange market. Accordingly, Banks may now only buy or sell dollars or their equivalent to other banks in a band of 0.01 pounds above or below the weighted average bid at the central bank's regular currency auctions, the dealer said. Previously, the limit had been 0.5 percent above or below the average bid.
