Egyptian Pound Hits Its Lowest Official Level on Record at 55.24 per Dollar

By The Edge Research Team

The Egyptian pound reached its lowest official level on record on 22 October. The Central Bank of Egypt’s official exchange rate for the dollar stood at 55.2400 pounds buying and 55.3800 selling. That is the highest in the bank’s published daily series of official rates, which begins in January 2005, on our count. The bank’s average market rate also printed its highest dollar rate, 55.2576 pounds buying and 55.3576 selling, in a series that begins in November 2014, on our count. The same day, Egypt’s 364-day and 182-day Treasury bill auction drew 193.5 billion pounds of bids, 1.49 times the 130 billion pounds on offer, on our calculation. Net international reserves stood at 57,348.2 million dollars at the end of September, the latest month published.

Treasury Bills Draw Bids Above the Offer

Demand for pound debt ran ahead of supply on both tenors. The 364-day bill drew 123.06 billion pounds of bids against 90 billion offered. That is 1.37 times the amount, on our calculation. The 182-day bill drew 70.44 billion pounds against 40 billion, or 1.76 times, on our calculation.

The accepted average yields came in under the average bids. On the year bill, 68.15 billion pounds was accepted, 75.7 percent of the amount offered, on our calculation. No accepted bid went above 26 percent, although bids ran as high as 30 percent. The accepted weighted average of 25.912 percent sat 0.513 point under the average yield bid, on our calculation. On the 182-day bill, slightly more than the offer was accepted, 40.14 billion pounds, at a weighted average of 25.166 percent, 0.753 point under the average bid, on our calculation.

The year bill’s accepted yield is 6.91 points above the central bank’s 19.00 percent overnight deposit rate, and the 182-day yield 6.17 points above it, on our calculation. Against September’s 13.9 percent annual headline inflation, the 364-day yield is 12.01 points higher, on our calculation. Inflation looks back over 12 months, so that gap is not an assured real return. Both bills are issued on 27 October.

Egypt’s 22 October Treasury Bill Auction

Auction of 22 October 2026, issue date 27 October. Amounts in billions of pounds are rounded from the published figures; bid cover is our calculation.

Reserves and Remittances Behind the Currency

Net international reserves reached 57,348.2 million dollars at the end of September, a provisional figure published on 7 October. That was 133.7 million dollars above August, on our calculation. It is also 4,517.6 million dollars, or 8.55 percent, more than at the end of March, on our calculation. Since the end of December 2025, reserves have grown 5,896.6 million dollars, or 11.46 percent, on our calculation.

The longer view is larger still. At the end of July 2023, net reserves stood at 34,878.6 million dollars, and the September level is 64.42 percent higher, on our calculation. Against July 2024, the gain is 10,859.3 million dollars, or 23.36 percent, on our calculation. The October figure has not yet been published.

Workers abroad keep sending more money home. Remittances reached an estimated 33.9 billion dollars from January to August, a record on the central bank’s figures and 27.2 percent more than an estimated 26.6 billion a year earlier. August alone brought an estimated 4.2 billion dollars, up 21.7 percent, on the central bank’s figures. The IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook, published on 22 October, found that Egypt’s net remittances as a share of GDP so far in 2026 have exceeded the level of the same period last year.

Egypt’s Net International Reserves at Selected Month-Ends

Net international reserves as published by the central bank; July 2023, July 2024, August 2026 and September 2026 were published as provisional. Changes are our calculation.

Where the Pound Stands Against the Dollar

The rate has moved up through October, though not in a straight line. It opened the month at 52.2725 on 1 October. It passed 54 pounds on 20 October, at 54.4592.

The average market rate’s previous high was 54.6537 on 7 April 2026, 0.6039 pound below the latest rate, on our calculation.

The path between those dates ran both ways. By 7 July the rate had come back to 48.7606. On 15 October it still stood 1.2403 pounds short of the April level, on our calculation. A week later it is past it.

The Dollar’s Average Market Rate at Key Dates, Pounds per Dollar

The central bank’s average market rate, in pounds per dollar. The bank also publishes a separate official-rate series.

Growth and Policy Ahead of the 29 October Meeting

The Fund projects Egyptian growth of 5.1 percent for 2026, on the July to June fiscal year Egypt uses. That is an estimated 1 percentage point above the IMF’s April forecast. The Fund sees 4.7 percent in 2027. The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said in September that growth averaged 5.1 percent in fiscal 2025/26. It expects growth to stay broadly stable near that level in 2026/27. Growth in the second quarter of 2026 was 4.7 percent.

Annual headline inflation was 13.9 percent in September, and core inflation 14.1 percent. The committee has kept its overnight deposit rate at 19.00 percent at the 5 meetings since its 100 basis point reduction on 12 February. In September it revised its inflation forecast lower relative to August, saying inflation developments had turned out more favorable than expected.

Why it matters: Egypt’s dollar buffers keep growing. Net reserves are 4,517.6 million dollars larger than at the end of March, on our calculation. Remittances set a record for the first eight months of the year. Thursday’s bills drew more pound funding than the state sought, at yields above September’s inflation rate.

Outlook: The calendar is busy. The central bank takes bids for 91-day and 273-day bills on 25 October, for 40 billion and 80 billion pounds. The Monetary Policy Committee meets on 29 October and again on 17 December. It projects headline inflation to stabilize on average in the third quarter of 2026, then ease gradually toward its 7 percent target, plus or minus 2 points, in the second half of 2027. The October reserves figure, the next monthly release, will show how the buffers moved through the month.

Sources: Central Bank of Egypt, IMF, The Edge.

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