Egypt’s Misr Iran bank 2016 profits jump to 1 bln pounds on currency float

Egypt’s Misr Iran Development Bank (MIDB) says profits had risen to one billion Egyptian pounds ($55 million) during 2016, significantly benefited from the central bank move to float the currency on Nov 3.

The country’s central bank decided on Nov 3 to freely float the pound and raise key interest rates as part of a set of reforms aimed at alleviating a dollar shortage and stabilising the national flagging economy.

The bank’s net profit has amounted to around 480 million pounds, excluding the earnings made as a result of the pound float, chairman Ismail Hassan told Amwal Al Ghad on Sunday.

Founded in 1975, Misr Iran Development Bank has current shareholding comprising Egyptian government through the National Investment Bank (29.93 percent), private-public Misr Insurance Company (16.06 percent), Misr Life Insurance (13.87 percent), and Tehran-based state-run Iran Foreign Investment Company (40.14 percent).