Cairo-Mubasher: The Egyptian pound continued to weaken against the U.S. dollar in a foreign currency auction held by the central bank on Thursday, to reach 7.49 per dollar; its lowest level since auctions began in December 2012.

Thus, the local currency extended its depreciation against the U.S. dollar for the eighth successive day, losing 5% of its value.

The central bank introduced the foreign currency auctions to stave off a run on the dollar.

The bank offered $40 million and sold $38.4 million at a cutoff price of 7.4901 pounds per dollar, compared with 7.4601 on Wednesday.

Photo Credit: Arabianeye-Reuters