11:00 p
Monday 23 May 2022
I wrote – Manal Al-Masry:
Karim Soss, CEO of the retail banking sector and branches at the National Bank of Egypt, said that the bank decided to fix the interest rate on retail banking loans to individuals, despite the Central Bank’s decision.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Egypt decided, during its meeting last Thursday, to raise the interest rate by 2% to reach 11.25% for deposits and 12.25% for lending, in a major blow to counter inflation.
Karim Souss added to Masrawy that keeping the interest rate on loans unchanged is due to its increase during the month of March, following the issuance of an 18% certificate, and the absence of a new adjustment on the interest of certificates, which helps to slow down before increasing the interest again.
Retail banking loans with Al Ahli Bank include personal and car loans and credit cards.
The National Bank had raised the interest by 1% on individual loans last March, following the Central Bank’s decision to raise interest by 1% in an exceptional meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, and the National Bank and Egypt had offered an 18% certificate.
Hisham Okasha, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Egypt, had previously said that the National Bank will continue to sell the savings certificate at a rate of 18% for a year without any amendment to it, and that there is also no amendment to the platinum certificates for a period of 3 years at an interest rate of 11%.
The retail banking portfolio of the National Bank amounts to 179 billion pounds so far, and is the largest portfolio at the level of the banking system, according to Seuss.