CAIRO: The Egyptian pound continued to fall against the American dollar over, dropping to its lowest point since July 2005 on Monday. Experts say the pound has been weakened by a slowing demand for dollars by Egyptian importers. The Egyptian pound has been struggling for weeks on concerns over the risk of emerging market assets and an overall lack of central bank support, analysts say. The pound touched 5.786 on Monday against the U.S. currency, breaching an earlier low of 5.777 reached in early November. “There is lots of demand for dollars, mainly from corporates for real corporate needs,” said a forex dealer at a bank in Cairo in comments carried by Reuters news agency. “They are seeking dollars for imports.” Another dealer said the Egyptian currency probably began weakening at first because foreign investors were not buying, and once it fell below the 5.78 barrier its decline accelerated. “It is probably because of a fall in foreigners buying the market,” the dealer said. “It was pretty calm early in the session, but later on trade got very aggressive.” He said the pound has previously met support at the 5.78 level. Another trader said there was real demand for dollars by Egyptian companies. Egypt's nation-wide elections for a new parliament passed on Sunday without major violence, but traders said this did not appear to be factor in the pound's movement. BM
