The devaluation pegged the Egyptian pound at 13 to the dollar, up from nearly nine on the official market. A Central Bank auction of dollars will be held later Thursday, allowing supply and demand to determine the value of the pound for the first time in decades. Also Thursday, the Central Bank raised by three percentage points its two key overnight interest rates. The bank said the measures were part of the government’s reform program and designed to “completely end” the unofficial — or black — currency market. Thursday’s developments came just two days after the association of the chambers of commerce inflicted a blow to the unofficial currency market, announcing a two-week freeze in dealing with black market currency traders and curtailing the imports of non-essential goods for three months.

Source: Washington Post November 03, 2016 08:01 UTC