Banque du Caire CEO Mounir El-Zahed expects his bank's profits to grow by more than 25% by the end of this year. On the sidelines of a press conference, El-Zahed said that financial indicators for the bank over the past few months have been promising. Banque du Caire profits increased to EGP 1.6bn last year compared to EGP 830m recorded in 2012, according to El-Zahed. He believes that banks investments in government debt tools have not interfered with private-sector companies and investors that wish to obtain loans, adding that banks are proud to finance these tools. Bank investments in these tools range between EGP 12bn-13bn, according to El-Zahed. He added that the total amount of loans provided by the bank to microenterprises is worth EGP 1bn, while total accumulated debts amount to EGP 7bn. Loans provided by Banque du Caire in recent months amount to EGP 14bn, part of a portfolio worth EGP 27.5bn. The bank is currently considering forming an alliance with a group of Egyptian banks to provide a loan worth EGP 1.5bn to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) according to El-Zahed. Total current bank deposits are worth EGP 60bn and have a 15% growth rate compared to the same period last year, and loans represent 40% of total deposits at present.
