Banking sources told Al-Arabiya.net that Banque Misr and Al-Ahly Bank, the country’s two largest government banks, have collectively obtained approximately $700 million in bank loans from global debt markets, amid government guidance to meet the needs of demand for dollars and end the accumulation of goods in the ports of the largest Arab country by population.
The sources have indicated it Bank of Egyptthe oldest state-owned bank in the country, has secured a seven-year loan of around $300 million from the African Development Bank expiring in December 2029.
Last November, the African Development Bank approved a $160 million loan for Banque Misr to finance Egyptian companies investing in key sectors of the economy.
While the sources also indicated that the National Bank secured a loan of approximately $405 million over 3 years from a consortium of Gulf and international banks which included Doha Bank of Qatar, Mashreq Banks, the UAE’s “National Dubai” United and First Abu Dhabi, in addition to British Standard Chartered and the Japanese Sumitomo Mitsui Group.
And Banque Misr and the National Bank are the country’s two largest government banks and are widely seen as a government arm to control the foreign exchange market, which has seen major turmoil since the middle of early last year, with renewed liberalization of the exchange rate in the midst of a wave of foreign capital flight, with major central banks tightening their monetary policy to contain inflation.
Last week, the two banks offered investment certificates of about 25%, for a year, at a time when the pound fell back against the dollar amid relentless attempts by the Central Bank of Egypt to eliminate the market black, as the noose began to tighten between the official price and the black market price in the midst of a series of measures to resolve a suffocating currency crisis.
In its latest reports last Thursday; The Egyptian pound continued its decline against the dollar in the banks after the central bank allowed the pound to fall to levels near 26.5 against the dollar on Wednesday. And it continued to decline in evening transactions in banks, and the price of the dollar exceeded £27 in several banks, while the parallel or black market completely stopped functioning.
The dollar recorded the highest official price, £27.25 selling and £27.15 buying.
Egyptian ports have seen a buildup of containers amid a suffocating liquidity crisis, at a time when the Egyptian president pledged last month to resolve this crisis very soon.
And last week, the Prime Minister announced the release of 6.8 billion dollars of goods accumulated in ports since December 1st in a country that imports most of its needs from abroad.
