The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said that the total financial position of banks operating in the Egyptian market rose to EGP 7.158trn in January 2021. This compared to the EGP 7.022trn recorded in December 2020. According to a report by the CBE, bank capital stood at about EGP 174.774bn in January 2021, while reserves amounted to about EGP 327.6bn. In the same context, the CBE said that net foreign assets increased by the equivalent of EGP 152.5bn, an increase of 124.9%, during the period from July 2020 to January 2021, to reach an equivalent of about EGP 274.593bn. The CBE explained that this increase came as a result of an increase in net foreign assets at banks, equivalent to EGP 97.5bn and net foreign assets with the CBE, equivalent to EGP 55bn. It pointed out that the local assets of the banking system increased during the same period by EGP 268.2bn, or 6.1%. This was a result of the increase in domestic credit by EGP 231.5bn at a rate of 4.8%, and the negative balance of the net budget items decreased by EGP 36.7bn at a rate of 8.5%. The CBE explained that domestic credit rose as a result of the increase in net liabilities: from the private sector by EGP 81.9bn; from the household sector by EGP 75.3bn; from the government by EGP 73.3bn; and from the public business sector by EGP 1bn. On another matter, the CBE said that the deposits of the banking sector recorded EGP 5.282trn in January 2021, compared to EGP 5.196trn in December 2020. Government deposits recorded EGP 920.440bn in January 2021, while non-government deposits reached EGP 4.362trn. The CBE indicated that the volume of credit facilities granted by banks operating in the local market to their customers reached about EGP 2.532trn in January 2021. It pointed out that the volume of these facilities increased by EGP 332.1bn within seven months, with a growth rate of 15.1%. Credit facilities mean the loans granted by banks to their clients, in addition to letters of credits and letters of guarantee opened for them to cover import operations. The CBE attributed this rise to an increase in the volume of credit facilities granted by banks to the government by EGP 188.6bn, at a rate of 28%. It was also driven by an increase in the volume of facilities granted to non-government entities by EGP 143.5bn, at a rate of 9.4%. The CBE explained that the increase in the funds granted to non-government entities came as a result of the increase in the volume of facilities in local currency, at a value of EGP 180.5bn, and the increase in the facilities in foreign currencies, equivalent to EGP 8.1bn. It also clarified that the private business sector obtained about 59.1% of the total non-governmental credit facilities granted by banks to various economic sectors. The CBE said that the industrial sector received the most financing from the banks, as it alone obtained about 30.7% of the total facilities. It was followed by the services sector, which acquired 24.8% of the financing, and then the trade sector by 10.8%. The agricultural sector obtained 2.1% of the volume of these facilities, while the share of other sectors, which the CBE did not mention in detail, on top of which is the household sector, amounted to about 31.6% of the volume of these facilities. In the same context, the portfolio of securities and bank investments in Treasury bills (T-bills) recorded EGP 2.683trn in January 2021. This was compared to the EGP 2.778trn recorded in December 2020.
