The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has decided not to extend the six-month credit payment suspension period for individuals and corporations and to begin the process of collecting monthly instalments, according to a circular the CBE sent to all banks on Monday. The CBE has instructed all banks to review the current situation of their clients and to start to collect monthly instalments without causing further pressure on corporations' liquidity or on the individuals' incomes. The CBE has also put in place several alternative procedures to mitigate the burdens shouldered by clients through restructuring their debts that arose during the six-month suspension, especially for businesses severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The alternative procedures include extending the period of credit facilities, restructuring the due instalments without imposing fines, capitalising the value of proceeds, and providing a grace period for companies. The six-month credit account suspension period is set to end on Thursday. The CBE also instructed all banks to analyse the overall risks associated with the ongoing crisis as well as examining the crisis impact on the banks' credit portfolio and on other economic sectors and putting in place plans to deal with the likely losses. Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, the CBE has taken 14 procedures to alleviate the negative impacts of the pandemic on individuals and the Egyptian economy in general. The procedures included setting new limits for cash deposits and withdrawals for individuals and corporations, raising the limit of daily cash withdrawals from ATMs to EGP 20,000, up from EGP 5,000, and from banks to EGP 50,000, up from EGP 10,000, and slashing the key interest rates by 3 percent (300 bps).
