Egypt's central bank sold $38.4 million to banks in a foreign exchange auction on Monday, with the cut-off price unchanged at LE6.972 to the dollar for the second auction in a row.

Currency dealers say the government may be reluctant to allow the pound to weaken below the psychologically important mark of 7.00 to the dollar.

On the black market, one dealer was offering on Monday to buy dollars for LE7.36 and to sell dollars at LE7.40.

The central bank introduced the auctions at the end of December to help stave off a currency crisis and thwart a run on the pound. Since then, the currency has lost 11 percent of its value on the official market.