Islamic financing in Egypt to reach 230bn pounds at year-end

Islamic financing in Egypt is expected to grow to 230 billion Egyptian pounds ($12.85 billion) at the end of this year, the head of the Egyptian Islamic Finance Association (EIFA) told Mubasher on Sunday.

Total Islamic financing grew 29.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2018, or by around 47 billion pounds, to 207 billion pounds from 160 billion pounds, Mohamed El Beltagy told Mubasher in a phone interview.

This value of Islamic funding represents six percent of the market’s total financing, he added.

The total value of Islamic securitisation stood at 273 billion pounds at the end of June 2018, representing around six percent of the market, while Islamic deposits reached 233 billion pounds.

The EIFA official also noted that the number of Islamic banks’ branches increased to 233 branches by the end of March, indicating that these branches serve around three million customers, or around 20 percent of the banking sector.

Egypt currently has 14 banks offering Islamic finance services, including three being fully Islamic, namely: Bank Al Barakah, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), and Bank Faisal.

Moreover, there are 11 traditional banks offering Islamic financing services.