A recent report by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) revealed several important indicators of the performance of banks operating in the domestic market,s during the first quarter (Q1) of 2018. The most important indicator was the success of the banks operating in the Egyptian market in attracting deposits with a value of EGP 155.63bn to EGP 3.49tn at the end of March 2018, up from EGP 3.33tn at the end of December 2017. Government deposits rose in the first quarter of 2018 by EGP 22.95bn to reach EGP 539.15bn at the end of March 2018, up from EGP 516.19bn in December 2017. Non-government deposits increased in the same period by EGP 132.68bn to score EGP 2.95tn, up from EGP 2.81tn at the end of December 2017. According to the CBE, non-government deposits in local currency increased by EGP 118.13bn to register EGP 2.24tn in March, up from EGP 2.13tn in December last year. Meanwhile, foreign currency deposits increased by EGP 14.55bn to reach EGP 701bn, up from EGP 686.45bn. Moreover, the CBE pointed out that growth in total deposits in banks, during March 2018 increased by 24.09%, up from 23.28% in December 2017, while growth in deposits in Egyptian pounds scored 32.5% and in foreign currencies by 3%. According to the CBE, the household sector increased its deposits in the first quarter of 2018 to reach EGP 2.31tn, accounting for 78.8% of total deposits, including 82.5% of total deposits in local currency and 66.9% of foreign currency deposits. In addition, the CBE figures showed that loans granted in the first quarter of 2018 increased by EGP 85.21bn to reach a total of EGP 1.54tn at the end of March 2018, up from EGP 1.45tn in December 2017. The CBE stated that loans channelled from government banks were increased by EGP 46.70bn to reach EGP 420.53bn, compared to EGP 373.83bn. The CBE explained that loans granted to clients from non-governmental banks witnessed an increase of EGP 38.51bn in the first quarter of 2018 to reach EGP 1.12tn at the end of March 2018, up from EGP 1.08tn at the end of December 2017. He added that non-government loans in local currency have risen in value by EGP 38.98bn to reach EGP 789.31bn, up from EGP 750.33bn, while foreign currency loans increased by EGP 41m to reach EGP 328.43bn, up from EGP 328.9bn. The volume of credit facilities granted by banks operating in the local market to their customers increased by the end of March 2018 to reach EGP 1.5496tn, up from EGP 1.4633tn at the end of December 2017, rising by EGP 86.23bn. Credit facilities refers to the sum of loans granted by banks to clients, along with letters of credit and letters of guarantee granted to cover importation. The CBE explained that the total facilities directed to the government amounted to about EGP 420.53bn at the end of March 2018, including EGP 202.18bn in local currency and about EGP 218.36bn in foreign currencies. Meanwhile, the total non-government facilities amounted to about EGP 1.13tn, including EGP 799.96bn and EGP 329.12bn in foreign currencies. The report said that the private business sector received 60.8% of total credit facilities provided by banks through the end of March 2018. About 35.2% of non-government credit facilities were granted to the industrial sector, followed by the services sector that took 28.9%, and then trade with 9.9%. As usual, the agricultural sector received the lowest percentage of credit facilities granted by banks to different economic sectors, accounting for only 1.1% of total facilities until the end of March 2018. The report noted that several other sectors, of which only the household sector was named, accounted for 24.9% of the total credit facilities. Finally, banks' investments in securities and treasury bills fell during the first quarter of 2018 by EGP 35.66bn to EGP 1.66tn at the end of March 2018, down from EGP 1.7tn at the end of December 2017.
