Reuters/Cairo

The Egyptian pound strengthened at a central bank sale of foreign exchange yesterday, extending a trend of gradual appreciation since the military removed former president Mohamed Mursi on July 3, one banker said.

The central bank sold $38.6mn of the $40mn it had offered, and the cut-off price strengthened to 6.9923 pounds per dollar from 6.9926 pounds on Thursday, the banker said. The cut-off price on July 3 was 7.0184.

The central bank introduced the currency sales, held three times a week, at the end of December to help stave off a currency crisis and thwart a run on the pound.

Since then, the bank has allowed the currency to lose more than 11% of its value on the official market.

Yields on five-year Egyptian treasury bond yields slipped but those on 10-year bonds rose at a 3bn pound ($428mn) auction yesterday.

The average yield on five-year bonds declined to 15.47% from 15.55% at the last auction on July 8, while Egypt paid an average 16.63% to sell its 10-year bond, up from 16.57% at the previous auction on June 8.

The central bank said it accepted bids worth 1.5bn Egyptian pounds for the five-year bonds and 1.5bn pounds for the 10-year bonds. It sold the entire amount it had offered.