Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) transactions in Egypt surged to 150.6 trillion Egyptian pounds ($3.1 trillion) during the first seven months of 2025, according to latest data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). The number of transactions reached 1.49 million over the January–July period, with July alone recording 232,115 transactions worth 23.46 trillion pounds – a 29 per cent increase in value compared to the previous month. The sharp rise reflects growing reliance on digital payment systems across Egypt's financial sector, underpinned by government-led digitalisation efforts, expanding e-commerce activity, and evolving banking infrastructure. The RTGS system, operated by the CBE, is the backbone of Egypt's large-value payment operations. It enables real-time, irrevocable settlement of interbank transfers and high-priority transactions in local currency. All commercial banks are direct participants in the system, which operates from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm on working days. Month-by-Month Breakdown: * January: 211,170 transactions worth 23.139 trillion Egyptian pounds. * February: 209,099 transactions worth 20.443 trillion Egyptian pounds. * March: 217,007 transactions worth 25.408 trillion Egyptian pounds. * April: 202,904 transactions worth 22.014 trillion pounds. * May: 214,852 transactions worth 17.884 trillion pounds. * June: 205,237 transactions worth 18.249 trillion pounds. * July: 232,115 transactions worth 23.456 trillion pounds. Since its launch in March 2009, Egypt's RTGS system has become a systemically important financial infrastructure. It processes both single payments and netting results from the country's main clearing houses — including the cheque clearing house, the National Switch, and the ACH of EBC. The system also supports settlement for government securities markets and utilises SWIFT for secure messaging. According to the CBE, the RTGS handles more than 57 billion pounds daily, with an average of 5,400 settlement requests. To support liquidity, the central bank provides intraday credit to participating banks, collateralised by treasury bills and certain bank deposits. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Download
