Egypt’s banking sector ranks 4th in the Arab world

The Egyptian banking sector is ranked fourth among the Arab world in terms of assets, according to the chairman of Union of Arab Banks.

It also ranked first among the non-oil Arab countries despite facing financial and economic challenges after the libralisation of the exchange rate, Mohamed El Sabbah said at the Chief Risk Officers in Arab Banks Forum, taking in Alexandria on Saturday.

The Egyptian central bank’s policies have proven great success and flexibility in reaching its goals to curb the inflation rates through changing the interest rates, El Sabbah added.

He further noted that CBE has succeeded in increasing the state’s foreign exchange reserve  to $ 44.1 billion by the end of February when compared to $13 billion during 2013.

However, The consolidated assets of the Egyptian banking sector were estimated at  5.4 trillion pounds by the end of 2018 compared to 4.8 trillion pounds  at the end of 2017, with a growth rate of 13%.

In addition, He noted that deposits reached about 3.8 trillion pounds by the end of 2018, with an increase of 15% over the end of 2017. As or loans granted to the public and private sectors, it amounted to about 1.8 trillion pounds registering a growth rate of 24 percent.

Total capital and reserves stood at 354 billion pounds by the end of 2018, an increase of 10 percent compared to the end 2017.