Egyptian Pound Weakens as the Dollar Moves Above EGP 52
The Central Bank of Egypt's average market rate reached EGP 52.028 for purchases, with individual banks quoting within a few piastres of one another.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
The Egyptian pound weakened against the US dollar on Monday, with the greenback pushing past EGP 52 in Cairo trading.
The dollar began the session under that mark and ended it above. The Central Bank of Egypt's average market rate settled at EGP 52.028 on the buy side and EGP 52.128 on the sell side.
Quotes moved from bank to bank, as they usually do. Banque Misr opened at EGP 51.66 for purchases and EGP 51.76 for sales, then traded at EGP 52.02 and EGP 52.12, a gain of EGP 0.36 across the day. The National Bank of Egypt showed EGP 52 and EGP 52.10 in an afternoon update, while Commercial International Bank quoted EGP 52.05 and EGP 52.15.
Those gaps of a few piastres are ordinary. Lenders price near the central bank's published average and keep a small margin between what they pay for dollars and what they charge for them.
The last time the dollar closed above EGP 52 at a group of banks was September 15, the first such close in three months.
Monday's drift came after the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted last Thursday to hold overnight deposit and lending rates at 19% and 20%. The bank has cautioned that higher global energy and food prices could feed into domestic inflation. It did not link Monday's exchange rate to any specific cause.
The day's range at Banque Misr, from EGP 51.66 to EGP 52.02 on the buy side, shows that the quoted rate moves during the session and not only at the open. Importers and exporters settling large invoices watch that intraday drift, because a few piastres on a big transaction add up.
Two numbers frame the wider picture. Remittances from Egyptians working abroad rose 28.1% to $29.7 billion in the first seven months of 2026, and net international reserves stood at about $57.2 billion at the end of August. A softer pound lifts the local-currency value of money sent home, which tends to pull more of it through official channels. The same softness raises the cost of the import bill those dollars help cover, and that is where the pressure lands first, on fuel, wheat and machinery bought from abroad.
Holding the deposit rate at 19% keeps returns on pound-denominated debt attractive in nominal terms, which supports demand for the currency. It also leaves borrowing costs for the government and for companies where they were, while the pound drifts lower.
Monday's spread was narrow. Across the three banks, buy quotes ran from EGP 52 to EGP 52.05, a range of five piastres, with the central bank's average sitting inside it.
