CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound dropped to 8.05 percent on Monday from 8.395 on Sunday, with the market liquid at the end of the reserve period, traders said. We had no deals. It s the last day of the reserve period, so naturally banks are squared, said one trader. Tuesday marks the beginning of a new two-week period for calculating bank reserves. Rates tend to decline as the period approaches because most banks square their accounts in advance. Traders also said that the market was liquid after a central bank auction of three-day CBE certificates worth LE 7 billion ($1.2 billion) took only LE 5.246 billion, causing rates to fall. Six of the 10 banks contacted by Reuters said they had dealt overnight, at rates between 8.05 and 8.4 percent, compared with a range of 8.1 to 9.1 percent on Sunday. None of the banks reported one-week deals. On Sunday one bank said it had dealt two-day money at 8.85 percent. At 1 p.m. the pound had weakened slightly against the dollar to LE 5.7360, compared with Sunday s general weighted average of LE 5.7359. Reuters
