Following the announcement of the government’s commitments under the new IMF-backed loan deal, the Egyptian pound has witnessed since Tuesday unprecedented drops in performance against the US dollar, exceeding EGP 30 against the greenback before closing at a little under EGP 30 on Tuesday.

The US dollar traded for EGP 30.66 for purchasing and EGP 30.70 for selling at five banks: the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Crédit Agricole, the Egyptian Arab Land Bank, the United Bank of Egypt, and Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait.

The dollar traded for EGP 30.50 for purchasing and EGP 30.60 for selling at Mashreq Bank, EGP 30.10 for purchasing and EGP 30.20 for selling at the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), and EGP 30 for purchasing and EGP 30.10 for selling at the Egyptian Gulf Bank.

At the Central Bank of Egypt, the US dollar prices inched down to EGP 29.50 for purchasing and EGP 29.63 for selling compared to EGP 29.63 and EGP 29.76 for purchasing and selling, respectively.

At the National Bank of Egypt, the dollar descended to EGP 29.50 for purchasing and EGP 29.55 for selling, down from EGP 29.75 and EGP 29.80 for purchasing and selling respectively.

The pound’s performance since Wednesday has been quite significant in both the left- and right-hand sides, according to a report by Citi Investment Bank.

“We think the end of the devaluation process is close and we are now heading towards more flexibility. The upward trend in the EGP has intensified. The pound lost 7.6 percent on Wednesday and 20.3 percent on an annual basis,” the report said.

On the parallel market front, Bloomberg reported that currency traders have stopped transactions in response to the fluctuation the US prices have been witnessing since Tuesday.

The pound has lost over 100 percent of its value in almost nine months.