CIB confirmed to Reuters’ Ehab Farouk yesterday it is allowing clients to buy up to USD 2k each month without requiring any proof of travel, but that any additional sums require documentation. Banque Misr is also allowing its clients to buy up to USD 2,000, but caps it there. A source at National Bank of Egypt did not specify a limit on the amounts offered to clients, noting that it is set at each branch’s discretion and is a function, in part, of the bank’s relationship with any individual client. Arab African International Bank says it is allowing clients to purchase USD “freely.”

The Central Bank of Egypt received a second, USD 1.25 bn installment of the IMF loan yesterday, Al Masry Al Youm reported. The installment will be used to support the central bank’s reserves balance, a source said. It is also the final installment of the first USD 4 bn tranche of the IMF’s USD 12 bn loan to Egypt, Ahram Online notes. We reported yesterday that Finance Minister Amr El Garhy expects a third installment of USD 2 bn to be disbursed by December or January.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will be heading to Baghdad today to talk cooperation and regional issues with various state officials, AMAY says. On Shoukry’s agenda are meetings with the Iraqi president, vice president, prime minister, foreign minister, and parliament speaker.