The return on Egyptian dollar certificates of deposit, offered by seven Egyptian banks for Egyptians working in Arab countries, reached US$ 40 million at the end of last week, said Tarek Amer, chairman of National Bank of Egypt (NBE). Sources said such a return is below expectations. Amer told Amwal Al Ghad that the banks, offering these CDs, are targeting selling 62,420 certificates with an estimated return of US$ 2 billion, affirming that selling transactions are going smoothly and that CDs are witnessing varying turnout in Arab countries. Egypt has launched dollar certificates of deposit for Egyptians living abroad to support the country's economy hardly hit by a deep crisis since the turmoil followed by last year's revolution. Egypt's foreign-exchange reserves lost US$ 22 billion since 25th of January revolution, sources said. The National Bank of Egypt, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, National Bank of Kuwait, Ahli United Bank, Arab Banking Corporation and Arab Bank are of the most prominent banks selling these CDs on behalf of the central bank and Ministry of Finance. These CDs targets meeting the lack of liquidity and offsetting the retreat of the dollar reserves especially that many international institutions such as International Monetary Fund and some of the Arab countries refused to grant Egypt any loans because of the current unrest and the absence of a clear economic reform plan.
