Egyptian Pound Hits Record 56 per Dollar on Monday
Key Facts
The Egyptian pound hit a record 56 per dollar on Monday, October 26, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters, in the latest leg of the currency’s decline against the dollar. EL7 data showed the dollar closing at 56.22 pounds on the same day, compared with 55.77 on October 25. The difference between the LSEG level and EL7’s closing rate reflects the fact that each source recorded a different reading during the trading day or at the close. The dollar had topped 55 pounds at major local banks on October 22, before reaching the new record on Monday. The currency move coincided with a decline in Egyptian shares in early trading, though sources have not established a causal link between the two events.
EL7 data showed the closing rate rising from 55.77 pounds per dollar on October 25 to 56.22 on October 26. In bank trading, the dollar topped 55 pounds at major local banks on October 22, Reuters reported. An Al-Ahram report said the dollar crossed that level for the first time at 5 Egyptian banks during trading that day, reaching 55.27 pounds for buying and 55.37 for selling. The move puts the banks’ readings days before the pound hit its record of 56 per dollar. The report also said the official exchange rate was about 47.72 pounds per dollar on February 27 and 28, and that the pound had lost about 13.8% of its value against the dollar from late February through October 22.
In the stock market, the EGX30, which Reuters described as a blue-chip index, fell 2% in early trading on October 26 before trimming its losses slightly. An analysis published by Al-Ahram linked the sell-off to currency pressures and foreign institutional selling, alongside liquidity constraints related to large share offerings. The analysis added that the unwinding of leveraged positions and geopolitical uncertainty were among the factors associated with the sell-off. This assessment places the currency move among a group of pressures discussed in the market analysis and does not identify a single cause for the index’s decline. A related stock-market item in the available options referred to a fall in the EGX70 and a half-hour trading halt on the same day, but the evidence here does not provide further details sufficient to establish the scale of the losses or their connection to the pound’s move.
On exchange-rate policy, Central Bank of Egypt Governor Hassan Abdalla said at a forum in Cairo last week that a flexible exchange rate could be the “first line of defense” against external shocks. He added that “the most important thing for us is unifying the exchange rate, not the exchange rate itself.” The governor’s remarks place market unification at the heart of his stated position, rather than defending a specific currency level. The IMF has said that exchange-rate flexibility, together with tight monetary and fiscal policies, helped restore macroeconomic stability, lower inflation and strengthen the external position. These positions provide context for the stated policy as the pound continues to hit record levels against the dollar.
In July, the IMF completed the seventh review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, enabling Egypt to draw about $1.5 billion and $272 million, respectively. In its assessment of the economy, the fund said headline inflation rose to 15.2% in March 2026, then slowed to 14.3% in June, and was expected to rise to 16.7% in the second half of the year. The fund recommended maintaining exchange-rate flexibility and continuing to build reserves, alongside a tight monetary stance and clear communication to anchor expectations and return inflation to its target. Egypt’s Extended Fund Facility arrangement is due to end on December 15, 2026. The upcoming date places the financing program and follow-up on the fund’s recommendations within the timeline for the next phase, after Egypt was granted the financing linked to the reviews completed in July.