The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided on Sunday to fix the dollar price against the pound at EGP 7.7301 for the second time in a row, after it was devaluated by 20 piasters last Wednesday. The CBE opened its usual tender Sunday morning to sell dollars to banks, giving them $38.8m. In this tender, the dollar price was fixed at the same level as Wednesday. At banks, the asking price for the dollar reached EGP 7.78, while the bid price reached EGP 7.8301. In the black market, Daily News Egypt noted a strong variation in the dollar price, as it was traded in some areas at EGP 8.15, while in other areas it reached EGP 8.5. The common denominator in trading on the black market is the state of alert and concern about the possibility of the CBE making any other sudden decisions on the exchange rate. Last Wednesday, the actions of the CBE resulted in great losses for dealers in the market. Anticipating the CBE's next moves with respect to the exchange market is extremely difficult under the circumstances witnessed by the Egyptian market at the moment, according to Haitham Abdel Fattah, Director General of the Treasury of the Industrial Development and Workers Bank of Egypt (IDBE). Abdel-Fattah added that further steps by the central bank during the next few days are certain, to restore stability and discipline to the exchange market. However, the timing of those measures and the methods with which they will be implemented remain unknown to anyone but the decision maker himself.
