A man counts Egyptian pound banknotes . AP
The CBE announced that all banks operating in the domestic market will suspend work on Thursday, 7 May 2026, an official holiday, in observance of Labour Day, and will reopen on Sunday morning, 10 May.
The currency traded at EGP 52.62 for buying and EGP 52.76 for selling, down by EGP 1 or almost 2 percent from EGP 53.68 and EGP 53.82, respectively, on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, the dollar traded EGP 53.45 for buying and EGP 53.59 for selling on Sunday.
The strengthening of the pound comes after the dollar surpassed the EGP 53 mark, interrupting a brief recovery trend following weeks of exchange-rate volatility triggered by escalating geopolitical tensions in the region.
Across local lenders, the currency traded at the highest rates on Wednesday, between EGP 52.67 and EGP 52.65 for buying and between EGP 52.77 and EGP 52.75 for selling across eight banks, including QNB Bank, Suez Canal Bank, and Banque Misr.
The lowest rates recorded were EGP 52.60 for buying and EGP 52.70 for selling across four banks, including Crédit Agricole, Al Baraka Bank, the Commercial International Bank (CIB), and National Bank of Kuwait (NBK).
Compared with its pre-conflict level of EGP 47.9 per dollar, the pound has weakened by around EGP 4.8, or almost 10 percent, improving from losses of 11.7 percent earlier this week on Sunday and 12 percent at the close of last week.
Concerns over renewed regional escalation, potential capital outflows, and high inflation continue to weigh on the market, coming ahead of expectations of tighter monetary conditions as the CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled to meet on 21 May to decide on key interest rates.
Other currencies
The euro also showed improvement, trading at EGP 62 for buying and EGP 62.2 for selling, compared to EGP 52.75 and EGP 62.91 on Tuesday. The European currency remains roughly EGP 5.6 higher than its pre-conflict level.
The British pound traded at EGP 71.8 for buying and EGP 71.95 for selling, compared to EGP 72.7 and EGP 72.91 on Tuesday. It remains almost EGP 7 above its pre-conflict level.
Gulf currencies also improved, with the Kuwaiti dinar trading at EGP 172.29, the Bahraini dinar at EGP 139.77, the Omani riyal at EGP 137.05, and the Jordanian dinar at EGP 74.52.
According to Central Bank of Egypt data, the Gulf currencies depreciated between EGP 1.27 and EGP 15.16 against the Egyptian pound since the outbreak of the conflict.
Gold
Gold prices fluctuated slightly after remaining unchanged earlier this week. The gold sovereign (geneih dahab) stood at EGP 55,840 at Wednesday’s close, increasing by EGP 280 from EGP 55,280 at Tuesday’s close, according to gold trading platform iSagha.
Meanwhile, 24-karat gold traded at EGP 7,977 on Wednesday, increasing by EGP 80.25 from EGP 7,897 per gram on Tuesday.
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