NBE Raises Islamic Finances To EGP 420 Mln

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has raised the value of Islamic finances by EGP 220 million to reach EGP 420 million, compared with EGP 200 million at the end of 2012.

Sources said such increase in Islamic finances came after the bank approved to grant Al-Watania Poultry a Murabaha worth EGP 200 million, in addition to expanding in financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The bank’s Islamic deposits are close to reach EGP 1 billion, but the bank does not target to increase them by the upcoming period because the loan-to-deposit ratio is low in the meantime due to the current market recession, sources noted.

The bank has two Islamic branches; one in Dokki which acquires 80% of deposits, and the other in Al-Azhar which acquires 20% of deposits.