Egyptian pound steady at dollar sale

CAIRO: The Egyptian pound was stable at a dollar sale yesterday, with the central bank selling $40 million at a cut-off price of 7.9301 pounds per dollar, while the currency weakened on the parallel market. The official cut-off price was unchanged from Sunday’s dollar sale, but two traders said the dollar changed hands at 8.6 pounds in the parallel market yesterday, compared with 8.50 pounds on Sunday. “There is demand for dollars from gold shops because gold prices dropped so they are seizing the opportunity to buy gold at low prices. The price went down by 7.5 percent in 10 days,” one banker said. Egypt announced in October that Hesham Ramez would be replaced as central bank governor this month by senior banker Tarek Amer. The move was welcomed by traders, who expect a new approach to the country’s currency crisis.