For the seventh consecutive day, the Egyptian pound declined against the US dollar in a Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) auction reaching EGP 7.46 on Wednesday, declining almost three piasters. The US dollar exchange value jumped to EGP 7.5 in the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), while it reached EGP 7.5 in Banque Misr. In the last week, the Egyptian pound's value depreciated officially to EGP 7.34 against the US dollar. The decreased value of the Egyptian pound started at the beginning of last week when the CBE devaluated the US dollar value to EGP 7.19 in an auction. Market analyst Moustafa Badra said the Egyptian pound's decrease will boost investments by motivating the appetite of Arab and foreign investors. However, Badra added that it will have a long term negative impact on savings rates and, will increase inflation rates. Speaking to CBC satellite channel, Farous Bank's Head of Investment Hany Gnenina said the CBE devaluation of the Egyptian pound rate is a good move to decrease the gap with black market prices. The value of the US dollar had remained at around EGP 7.14 during the past six months. In December, however, the CBE announced it will raise the number of weekly dollar bids, which led many analysts to forecast devaluation for the Egyptian pound.
