An illustrative image made by Ai.
It’s worth noting that Thursday, 18 June, is a paid official holiday for public and private sector employees on the occasion of the Hijri New Year.
The currency traded at EGP 49.84 for buying and EGP 49.98 for selling on Wednesday’s COB, down EGP 0.31 or almost 0.62 from EGP 50.16 for buying and EGP 50.29 for selling on Tuesday.
This is the second time the currency has gone below the EGP 50 mark since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on 28 February, trading at around EGP 49.30 and EGP 49.95 during two days in March.
The Egyptian pound has been strengthening against the US dollar over the week, with the US dollar falling by EGP 1.2 or by almost 2.35 percent compared to Sunday’s rates of EGP 51.04 and EGP 51.18, respectively.
On Wednesday, the US dollar also fell by EGP 1.9 or 3.7 percent compared to last week’s EGP 51.75 and EGP 51.90.
Despite the recovery, the pound remains around almost EGP 2 or almost 4 percent weaker against the US dollar than its pre-conflict rate of EGP 47.9/$1 US dollar. This is still an improvement from 4.8 percent on Tuesday, the 6.6 percent decline recorded on Sunday and the 8.4 percent decline recorded last Thursday.
Across local banks, the highest exchange rates on Wednesday ranged between EGP 49.85 and EGP 49.87 for buying and EGP 49.95 and EGP 49.97 for selling at eight banks, including Egyptian Arab Land Bank, Suez Canal Bank and Banque Misr.
Meanwhile, the lowest rates stood between EGP 49.77 and EGP 49.84 for buying and EGP 49.87 and EGP 49.93 for selling, at Bank of Alexandria, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), CIB Bank and HSBC Bank.
Other currencies continue to depreciate
The euro has weakened again against the Egyptian pound, trading at EGP 57.81 for buying and EGP 57.97 for selling on Wednesday, down from EGP 58.22 and EGP 58.39, respectively, on Tuesday. It also fell from EGP 59.05 and EGP 59.21, earlier this week on Sunday. The European currency nevertheless remains around EGP 1.33 above its pre-conflict level.
The pound sterling traded at EGP 66.84 for buying and EGP 67.05 for selling, down from EGP 67.32 and EGP 67.52 on Tuesday, and from EGP 68.43 and EGP 68.63 on Sunday. It remains nearly EGP 2.07 above its pre-conflict level.
Gulf currencies also continued to weaken against the Egyptian pound. The Kuwaiti dinar traded at EGP 162.87 on Wednesday, down from EGP 163.88 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Bahraini dinar fell to EGP 132.59 on Wednesday, down from EGP 133.44 on Tuesday.
The Omani riyal traded at EGP 129.84, down from EGP 130.69 on Tuesday, while the Jordanian dinar fell to EGP 70.60 from EGP 71.04 on Tuesday.
According to CBE data, Gulf currencies have depreciated against the Egyptian pound by between EGP 0.52 and nearly EGP 5.74 since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Gold prices fall
The gold sovereign (geneih dahab) traded at EGP 49,000 on Thursday, down by EGP 920 from EGP 49,920 on Wednesday and down by EGP 1,000 from Sunday’s rate of EGP 50,000, according to gold trading platform iSagha.
Meanwhile, 24-karat gold followed a similar trend, trading at EGP 7,000 on Thursday, down by EGP 131 from Wednesday’s EGP 7,131, and down from EGP 7,142.25 on Sunday.
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