Egypt pound strengthens at Thursday forex auction

The Egyptian pound edged stronger at a central bank foreign exchange auction on Thursday, a day after the military ousted the country's president, a banker said.

The central bank sold $38.8 million to banks at the auction, with the cut-off price at 7.0184 pounds to the dollar compared to 7.0189 pounds at Wednesday's auction, the banker said.

On the black market, the pound weakened, with one dealer offering to sell dollars for 7.65 pounds and buy dollars for 7.60 pounds, compared to 7.55 and 7.50 on Wednesday.

It was the first time the currency has strengthened on the official market since the central bank introduced the auctions 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 almost 12 percent of its value on the official market.

(Reporting by Patrick Werr; Editing by Toby Chopra)