Egypt’s three state bank giants offer USD certificates to lure expat dollars

Egypt’s “Belady” dollar denominated certificate will be offered to Egyptians living abroad by three state-owned banking giants, the country’s Immigration Minister Nabila Makram Ebeid said Monday.

Egypt has launched the new scheme on Monday in a move to encourage millions of Egyptians living abroad to pour their dollar savings into special certificates, as it tries to ease an acute shortage of foreign currency that has hit the economy.

The National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque Du Caire will offer maturities of one, three and five years, with yields of 3.5 percent, 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent respectively, Reuters reported.

The Central Bank of Egypt will guarantee the right of expatriates to move their earnings from the certificate in dollars to banks abroad, she added in a news conference.

The certificates will be available from Tuesday and are being offered at higher yields than typical market equivalents to encourage expatriate Egyptians to invest.

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