CAIRO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The Egyptian pound weakened to 25.90 to the dollar on Wednesday, its biggest one-day move since the central bank allowed it to fall by 14.5% on Oct. 27, according Refinitiv Data.

It was about 24.70 to the dollar at the opening of the trading day.

State-owned Banque Misr said in a statement earlier on Wednesday it was offering one-year savings certificates with a return of 25%, a move often indicating the central bank is planning a devaluation.

Currency flexibility has been a key demand by the International Monetary Fund, which approved a 46-month, $3 billion financial rescue package in October. read more

Egypt had been seeking the loan since March, after the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine aggravated a foreign currency shortage, causing a sharp slowdown in imports and a backlog of goods in ports.

Egypt announced last week it had phased out a system of mandatory letters of credit for importers it imposed in February that further aggravated the import crisis. read more

The currency has weakened from 19.7 to the dollar in March.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.