The US dollar exchange rate continued to decline globally and locally on Thursday after Donald Trump was elected new US president.
In Egypt, the dollar declined by over 45 piasters on Thursday, compared to Wednesday's exchange rate at local banks.
At Banque Misr, the National Bank of Egypt, and the Commercial International Bank, the US dollar was set at LE16.90 for buying and LE16.50 for selling.
The dollar recorded LE16.95 at various other local banks for selling and LE17.25 for buying on Wednesday.
Deputy Managing Director of Emirates NDB in Egypt, Sahar al-Damaty, expected the US dollar to continue losing value in the coming period, noting that customers trended toward selling, Wednesday, for fear of continued decline.
The Central Bank of Egypt floated the pound last Thursday, initially devaluing it by about a third from the past 7-month-peg of 8.8. The bank let it drift down to between 15.35 and 15.75 by the end of the day.
The float is widely viewed as dealing a strong blow to flourishing black market trading — prevalent under the previous peg conditions — and ending the policies of strict rationing of US dollar supplies at banks.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
