Banking sources told Al-Arabiya.net that Banque Misr and Al-Ahly Bank, the two largest government banks in the country, have collectively obtained bank loans of about $700 million from the global debt markets, amid government directions to meet the needs of demand for dollars and end the accumulation of goods in ports in the largest Arab country by population. .
The sources indicated that Egypt Bankthe country’s oldest state bank, has secured a seven-year loan of about $300 million from the African Development Bank due in December 2029.
Last November, the African Development Bank approved a $160 million loan for Banque Misr to finance Egyptian businesses investing in key sectors of the economy.
While the sources also indicated that the National Bank obtained a loan of about $ 405 million for 3 years from a consortium of Gulf and international banks that included Doha Bank of Qatar, Mashreq Banks, the UAE’s “National Dubai” and First Abu Dhabi, in addition to the British Standard Chartered and the Japanese Sumitomo Mitsui Group.
And Banque Misr and the National Bank are the two largest government banks in the country and are widely seen as a government arm to control the exchange market, which has been witnessing great turmoil since the middle of early last year, with a new liberalization of the exchange rate in the midst of a wave of foreign capital flight, with major central banks tightening their monetary policy to contain inflation.
Last week, the two banks offered investment certificates of about 25%, for a year, at a time when the pound moved again downward against the dollar amid relentless attempts by the Central Bank of Egypt to eliminate the black market, as the noose began to tighten between the official price and the black market price in the midst of a set of measures to solve a currency crisis. Stifling.
In his last dealings last Thursday; The Egyptian pound continued its decline against the dollar in banks, after the Central Bank allowed the pound to decline to levels close to 26.5 against the dollar, on Wednesday. And it continued to decline in evening transactions in banks, and the price of the dollar exceeded 27 pounds in several banks, while the parallel or black market completely stopped working.
The dollar recorded the highest official price at 27.25 pounds for sale, and 27.15 pounds for purchase.
The Egyptian ports witnessed an accumulation of cargo containers amid a suffocating liquidity crisis, at a time when the Egyptian president pledged last month to solve this crisis very soon.
And last week, the Prime Minister announced the release of $6.8 billion worth of goods accumulated in ports since the first of last December in a country that imports most of its needs from abroad.