File Photo: Tourists walk past a currency exchange shop near the Ben Ezra synagogue in Coptic Cairo. AFP
The Egyptian pound strengthened on Thursday, with the dollar trading at EGP 51.75 for buying and EGP 51.88 for selling, down 0.35 percent from Wednesday’s EGP 51.93 and EGP 52.07.
It also improved from Tuesday’s levels of EGP 52.44 and EGP 52.57, marking a two-day gain of 1.32 percent.
The rebound suggests the pound is stabilizing after weeks of volatility triggered by the regional war, which had unsettled investors, disrupted capital flows, and driven more than $10 billion in short-term foreign investments out of Egypt’s secondary market, while increasing demand for foreign currency.
Since late February, however, the pound has remained weaker overall—down about EGP 3.89, or 8.11 percent, from roughly EGP 47.9 before the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Earlier this month, when the dollar reached EGP 54.5, the currency had lost around 13.5 percent of its value. At current levels, that decline has narrowed to about 7.5 percent, helped in part by the ceasefire announcement, though concerns over regional escalation and capital flows persist.
Egypt’s foreign reserves have helped cushion the impact of these pressures, rising to $52.83 billion at the end of March, up from $52.47 billion in February.
Across banks, exchange rates continued to edge lower. The highest rates stood at EGP 51.77 for buying and EGP 51.87 for selling at several lenders, including HSBC and Banque Misr. The lowest ranged between EGP 51.72 and EGP 51.76 for buying, and EGP 51.82 to EGP 51.86 for selling, at banks such as Crédit Agricole and Al Baraka.
Other currencies also declined. The euro fell to EGP 60.97 for buying and EGP 61.14 for selling, while the British pound traded at EGP 70.1 and EGP 70.3. Gulf currencies followed a similar trend, with the Kuwaiti dinar at EGP 169.48, the Bahraini dinar at EGP 137.59, the Omani riyal at EGP 134.78, and the Jordanian dinar at EGP 73.2.
According to central bank data, major currencies have still gained between EGP 1.03 and EGP 12.36 against the pound since the start of the conflict.
Gold prices edged lower in the local market. The gold sovereign (geneih dahab) fell to EGP 56,200, down about EGP 520 from Wednesday, though it remains EGP 440 higher than pre-war levels.
Meanwhile, 24-karat gold declined to EGP 8,028, down EGP 27.8 on the day, but still up EGP 63.5 compared with prices before the war.
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