Egyptian pound falls further despite currency intervention
Cairo, 1 Jan - (ANA) - The Egyptian pound has fallen further against the US dollar, despite efforts by the country's financial authorities to halt its slide on the money markets. The renewed decline came as the central bank held the second in a series of currency auctions. It sold $74.8m at a cut-off price of 6.3050 Egyptian pounds to the dollar, less than the equivalent price of 6.2425 in Sunday's first auction. However, President Mohammed Morsi has said he is unconcerned at the fall. The auctions are aimed at rationing the availability of dollars, in a first step towards allowing the Egyptian pound to float freely. In other measures, the central bank has also said corporate clients cannot withdraw more than $30,000 in cash per day and announced it will charge individuals who buy foreign currencies an administrative fee of 1% to 2%. Egypt is grappling with a crippling budget deficit and dwindling foreign reserves, which the central bank says have dropped to "critical" levels. The central bank has spent more than $20bn of foreign reserves to support the pound since a revolution against former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The current President, Mohammed Morsi, told Arab journalists on Sunday that the currency's fall in value did not scare the government and that the situation would stabilise "within days". Also on Sunday, Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said Egypt would soon resume talks with the International Monetary Fund over a crucial $4.8bn (£3bn) loan to shore up the economy. The talks had been suspended because of political turmoil over a new constitution, which was approved by a referendum last week. (ANA)

FA/ANA/1 January 2013---------