The Egyptian pound fell to a new record low on Thursday, 22 October, when the central bank’s average selling rate for the dollar reached EGP 55.3576. The average buying rate stood at EGP 55.2576.
The US currency had closed at EGP 54.47 on the previous day, according to Egyptian press reports citing market data. That implies an increase of about 1.7% in one session. Banque Misr quoted the dollar at EGP 55.23 for buying and EGP 55.33 for selling.
For a company settling a one-million-dollar invoice, the gap between EGP 54.47 and EGP 55.3576 adds nearly EGP 888,000 before fees. A weaker local currency directly raises the cost of dollar-denominated purchases, although the pass-through to retail prices varies with inventories, contracts and pricing policies.
Central Bank Governor Hassan Abdalla defended the flexible exchange-rate regime on the same day at the Egypt Forum 2026. He described currency movements as a response to economic conditions, according to Ahram Online.
Exchange-rate flexibility is one of Egypt’s commitments under its 8-billion-dollar programme with the IMF, which is due to expire in mid-December. The mechanism is intended to prevent foreign-currency shortages caused by an artificially maintained rate.
The move has accelerated in eight days. Banque Misr sold the dollar at EGP 53.15 on 14 October and EGP 55.33 on 22 October, an increase of EGP 2.18 or about 4.1%.