State media reported that the Egyptian Central Bank had ordered banks to close nationwide on Monday, following strikes by workers at state-owned banks who alleged corruption and rampant abuse was still taking place, dpa reported.
Hundreds of workers protested outside the main branches of state- owned banks on Sunday, just two days after president Hosny Mubarak resigned following nationwide protests calling for his ouster.
The decision to close banks on Monday was announced within hours of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq saying that Egypt's economic position was solid.
Banks will also be closed on Tuesday, February 15, for the national Mawled al-Nabi holiday, which commemorates the birth of the Prophet Mohammed.
The Central Bank has moved in recent days to intervene to strengthen the Egyptian pound against the dollar. The pound opened at roughly 5.89 against the dollar on Sunday.
The pound had fallen against the dollar when some banks re-opened a week ago after being closed for five working days due to the popular uprising that had swept the country.
Meanwhile, the stock exchange is to reopen on Wednesday. The exchange has been closed since January 30. Egypt's benchmark EGX 30 index fell 17 per cent in the last week it was open.
In two days alone, some 12 billion dollars were wiped off the exchange's market value, according to some estimates.
The country has also seen Fitch Ratings change the outlook for its credit rating from Stable to Negative, and Moody's downgraded the country by one notch from Ba1 to Ba2 with outlook Negative. The cost of insuring against Egypt's debt also rose.
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