The pound sets a record low as the central bank restates its flexible-rate commitment

The Egyptian pound hit a record low of 56 to the dollar on Monday 26 October, Reuters reported citing LSEG data, a move Reuters places before the parliamentary vote on Saudi support rather than after it. MUFG Research’s Middle East Daily of 27 October has the Central Bank quoting EGP 56.21–56.35 on the day, against EGP 52.30 at the start of October, with roughly 15% of the currency’s value lost across 2026. CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to a flexible exchange rate. Capital Economics, in a note dated 26 October reported by bne IntelliNews, puts the pound at 56.2 and the annual decline at 15% but calls the fall “manageable,” attributing it to an energy shock and arguing that tight fiscal and monetary policy and rebuilt reserves limit the damage. That is a consultancy view, not reporting.

The reserve position is the counterweight the optimistic reading rests on. The Central Bank put net international reserves at $57.348 billion at end-September 2026, described as an all-time high and up $5.896 billion across the first nine months of the year from $51.452 billion in December 2025. The end-October print, due in early November, is the first reserve reading that will capture this month’s currency move. Separately, Bloomberg reported on 15 October that the IMF will open talks on the final review of Egypt’s $8 billion programme after the October annual meetings and aims to sign off by December, attributing that to a top official who is not named in the published account. The Central Bank’s news feed, dated the same 26 October, lists the issuance of a new 20-pound polymer banknote.

Assessment: Two readings of the same number, and the gap between them is about what you think caused it. Capital Economics treats the slide as an energy-import shock absorbed by a policy framework that is working as designed; a 15% annual depreciation with reserves at a record is, on that view, the flexible rate doing its job. The sceptical read is that reserves have been rebuilt largely on external money and that the October print will show what defending 52 cost. Watch two dates: the end-October reserve release in early November, and whether the December sign-off Bloomberg describes holds its schedule. Neither has happened yet.