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Cairo • Egypt strengthened the official exchange rate by 0.20 pounds against the dollar on Wednesday, defying expectations of further weakening.
Figures posted Wednesday on the websites of banks, including the National Bank of Egypt, show an exchange rate of 7.83 pounds to the dollar, whereas it had previously stood at 8.03.
Egypt's state-run news agency cited bankers as saying that the value was set after the central bank "injected large amounts of dollars in the banks today."
The move came as a surprise to investors, who see the pound as overvalued and had been expecting it to be further depreciated.
Foreign currency reserves dropped 20 percent from April to October, according to central bank data.
Egypt has been struggling to maintain its foreign reserves since the 2011 overthrow of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, which was followed by years of unrest.
The economic outlook grew even bleaker following the Oct. 31 crash of a Russian passenger plane in the restive Sinai Peninsula, which killed all 224 people on board and led Britain and Russia to suspend flights over concerns the plane may have been downed by a bomb brought onboard.
Britain suspended flights to the main Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where the flight had originated, a week ago. Two days later, Russia went a step further, suspending all flights to Egypt. Egypt's Red Sea resorts had been a rare bright spot for the tourism industry in recent years.
Egypt's benchmark stock index plunged 4.4 percent on Tuesday and another 0.3 percent on Wednesday.