Sources at National Bank of Egypt (NBE) estimated the cumulative sales of the Masry USD Certificate, which was issued to attract the investment of Egyptians living in the Gulf, at $80 million since beginning of last April. The sales target for this type of certificate was estimated at $2 billion, but sales increased noticeably once the political climate showed signs of stabilisation. Sources said that most of the earnings came from National Bank of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, whereas the rest of earnings were distributed among the other six banks. Low earnings from the certificate were disappointing, even with the offered high return of four percent. Sources attributed this to Egypt's political instability and uncertainty surrounding the constitution, parliament and presidency. Egyptian foreign reserves dropped by $22 billion by the end of last March.
