The Egyptian banking sector ranked fourth among the Arab banking sectors, in terms of asset size, and ranked first among the banking sectors of the non-oil Arab countries, accounting for 8% of Arab banks' assets, and 9% of its deposits, according to a report by the General Secretariat of the Union of Arab Banks (UAB). According to Wissam Fattouh, secretary general of the UAB, the combined assets of the Egyptian banking sector reached $284bn, equivalent to about EGP 5.1tn, at the end of the second half (H2) of 2018, scoring a growth of 4.6% at the end of 2017. He added that the volume of deposits in Egyptian banks will amount to about $198.7bn (EGP 3.6tn) by the end of 2018, up by 6.3% from 2017. The size of loans to private and public sectors reached so far $91.1bn (EGP 1.6tn), with a growth of 10.4% from 2017, which is also the highest lending rate among all Arab banking sectors. The total capital and bank reserves operating in the Egyptian market amounted to about $20.3bn (EGP 363bn) at the end of H2-2018, up by 12% from the end of 2017. The Central Bank of Egypt indicated in a statement that the banks have achieved profits of about $2.6bn in H2-2018. Fattouh pointed out that the world's top 1,000 banks saw the entry of four Egyptian banks, which are the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, the Commercial International Bank (CIB), and the Arab African International Bank. The total capital of these four banks amount to $9.2bn, while they run assets of $147.9bn. The NBE and the CIB were also included among the top 500 world banking brands in 2018, with both brands scoring a value of $556m. The NBE was ranked as Egypt's top banking brand in 2018, ranking 319th globally, at an estimated value of $362m at the end of 2017. This is 4% higher than 2016. The CIB followed on the list as the second bank domestically, and 456th globally. At the Arab level, Fattouh pointed out that the volume of assets of the Arab banking sector amounted to about $3.39tn at the end of H1 of 2018, up by 1.6% from the end of 2017, registering about 140% of the Arab gross domestic product (GDP). The combined deposits of the Arab banking sector amounted to approximately $2.14tn, or 87% of the size of the Arab economy, marking a growth of 1.5%. Total equity reached $392.5bn, down by 1.8% from the end of 2017. He pointed out that the credit volume injected by the banking sector in the Arab economy until the end of H2-2018 reached $1.86tn, accounting for 75% of total Arab GDP, and a 2% growth from the end of 2017. Fattouh confirmed that these figures indicate the remarkable contribution of the Arab banking sector in financing the Arab economies, despite the continued economic, and social unrest in several Arab countries.
