Egypt's state banks said they will start releasing this month the funds of clients who invested in high-yield certificates of deposit (CDs) offered when the central bank floated the currency in late 2016. Egypt's three state banks, Banque Misr, the National Bank of Egypt and Banque du Caire began offering 18-month CDs at 20 percent and three-year CDs at 16 percent in November 2016. The National Bank of Egypt will start to gradually return funds for 18-month CDs issued in November and December 2016, which are valued at EGP 188 billion, the bank's deputy chairman Yehia Aboul Fotouh said on Saturday. The bank has raised a total of EGP 467 billion from the certificates, EGP 400 billion of which are from the 18-month CDs, Aboul Fotouh told satellite TV channel CBC. He said that more than a quarter of the money was raised from some 1.5 million new clients who joined the banking system for the first time. The bank is currently offering its clients three-year variable rate certificates of deposit at 17 percent, three-year fixed rate certificates at 15 percent and one-year certificates at 16.25. Banque Misr will return EGP 46 billion from the 18-month CDs issued in November 2016 to clients this month, the bank's deputy head Atef Maghraby told Egyptian news website Al-Masry Al-Youm on Sunday. Maghraby said that alternatives offered by his bank include three-year fixed and variable rate certificates. The CDs are part of efforts to stabilise the Egyptian pound and attract clients who are keeping cash outside the banking system.
