Local Banks Deny Restrictions On Providing $100 Notes

The Central Bank of Egypt gave no instructions to lenders operating in the country not to replace $100 notes with smaller units when conducting transactions for clients, several bankers told the Daily News Egypt.

This comes on the wake of reports carried by media outlets claiming that the CBE has ordered banks to replace $100 notes by $20 or other banknotes when dealing with clients, to limit the circulation of the biggest US banknote issued by US Federal Reserve Board.

“No such instructions were issued. These are mere rumours,” said Ahmed El Khouly, head of treasury at the Housing and Development bank said.

Echoing the same opinion was Haitham Abdel-Fattah, head of the treasury department at the Industrial Development and Workers Bank of Egypt. “Such claims are illogic, since a vast majority of the transactions are carried in $100 bills,” he said, adding that such instructions, if made, cannot be given verbally by the CBE.

According to local media reports, the alleged instructions by the central bank were part of a spate of measures taken to curb the black market.

The central bank has taken measures since November to cut the illegal trading of the US dollar, which has picked up over the past two years as the government vied to protect the pound from depreciation. CBE Governor Hisham Ramez has promised to eradicate the bootleg market within a year.

Source: Daily News Egypt