The dollar exceeded 56 pounds for the first time at the National Bank of Egypt during trading on Monday, October 26, 2026, after rising by about 20 piastres, and stood at 55.94 pounds to buy and 56.04 pounds to sell, according to midday rates. It stood at the Commercial International Bank at 55.93 pounds to buy and 56.03 pounds to sell, and at Banque Misr at 55.84 pounds to buy and 55.94 pounds to sell.
The dollar had closed trading on Sunday, October 25 at 55.75 pounds to buy and 55.89 pounds to sell at the Central Bank of Egypt. On the same day, the Egyptian Exchange halted trading for half an hour, after the EGX 100 index fell 10% during the session, while during the session the main EGX 30 index fell 5.35% to 48,321.27 points, and the EGX 70 index of small and mid-cap shares fell 11.51%.
This is the third time the exchange has halted trading because of a decline since 2021, after March and October of that year, when it halted trading for half an hour both times after the EGX 100 fell 5%. Before Sunday’s halt, the exchange suspended dealings in the shares of more than 120 companies for 10 minutes.
The official rate of the dollar was about 47.72 pounds on February 27, before the outbreak of the war between the United States and Iran, meaning the pound has lost about 14.8% of its value against the dollar since then.
Photo: Ahmed Yousry Mahfouz via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
