CAIRO, Apr 5 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's central bank announced the sale of $281 million on the interbank market "to clear all outstanding strategic staple commodities," in a statement on Sunday.

Egyptian imports of wheat in the first half of the ongoing fiscal year 2014/15, were worth $1.15 billion, crude oil imports were worth $1.46 billion and imports of pharmaceuticals were worth $1.3 billion, according to data provided by the central bank. 

On March 1, the central bank announced the sale of $420 million on the interbank market to meet needs of "goods namely, staple commodities, raw materials and pharmaceuticals."

At the time, central bank governor Hisham Ramez told Reuters that the bank would continue using the interbank market "in the coming period", alongside regular dollar auctions.