Egyptian banks have implemented a Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) initiative of postponing loan instalments for individuals and companies. The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) announced a delay of six months in instalments for clients who obtained retail bank loans and credit cards, and clients of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and large companies. NBE has the largest banking retail portfolio in the market, registered at more than EGP 92bn. Banque Misr also announced Monday the postponement of retail bank loan instalments, credit card instalments, SMEs, and large companies starting from March for six months. The Commercial International Bank (CIB) – Egypt said that, as of Monday, for all bank customers, the minimum credit card debt payment will not be claimed, for up to six months without any delay penalties, while interest will still be calculated. Direct minimum payment from personal accounts will also be suspended. The bank added, in a statement on its official Facebook page, that it was also decided to exempt holders of all types of CIB cards from the cash withdrawal fees from ATMs inside Egypt. Local cash withdrawal limits were also increased. Concerning loan instalments, the bank said that the instructions of CBE are being implemented and all the details will be announced once finalised. Sources in Nasser Social Bank confirmed that the bank is currently studying the implementation of the CBE's initiative, revealing that the initiative unlikely to be applied to pensioners because the instalments are deducted automatically. Ashraf El Kady, Chairperson of the United Bank, stressed that the bank decided to postpone the instalments of all personal loans. He said that it was already agreed with the Press Syndicate to postpone the loan instalments for journalists for six months, according to CBE's initiative. Alaa Farouk, Chairperson of the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, said that it was decided to postpone all credit dues for individual and SME customers for six months. He added that the delay will not be accompanied by imposing any additional fines for late payments, according to CBE's instructions. He pointed out that the bank is committed to applying all the initiatives issued by CBE. AlexBank announced that it started implementing the initiative and the instructions of CBE starting from 15th of March for the next six months. In a text message to its clients, the bank said that paying all instalments was postponed starting from March 2020 for six months, applicable to clients who obtained retail banking loans, credit cards, and owners of SMEs and large companies, under CBE's decisions. The bank advised its clients, through its official page on Facebook, to use internet or mobile banking services to carry out their banking transactions, instead of going to the bank's branches. The bank explained that it increased the maximum daily limit for all bank cards, and also cancelled the withdrawal fees from any ATM or transfers in Egypt to ensure the health and safety of its customers. On Monday, CBE decided to include clients of the microfinance sector to the initiative. Accordingly, companies and associations will postpone the instalments of their microfinance clients. Earlier, Al Tadamun Microfinance Foundation announced to its clients that there is no delay in the instalments of the loans they obtained. On 15 March 2020, CBE launched the initiative to postpone loan instalments for six months, with no additional fines applied for late payment. Instructions apply to all customers, both individuals and institutions, including financial leasing companies, real estate financing, factoring companies, and SMEs, as well as consumer loans, personal loans, credit cards, auto-loans, and mortgages.
