(AFP photo)
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi approved the Suez Canal investment certificate law on Monday, state-owned news agency MENA reported.
The investment certificates will be provided by the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and the Suez Canal Bank.
Hisham Ramez, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced during a press conference on Sunday that around 6m tax-exempted Suez Canal investment certificates are ready to be issued, following the presidential approval.
“We still await the decree that allows the Suez Canal Authority to issue the certificates,” Ramez said, adding that a protocol will be signed between the participating banks, the Suez Canal Authority, and the CBE.
An official at the Ministry of Finance said that the “protocol will probably be signed by Tuesday and if delayed it would be on Wednesday.”
The government official mentioned that the Minister of Finance Hany Kadry Dimian, or one of his representatives, will attend the protocol signing. The Ministry of Finance is acting as the guarantor between the banks and Suez Canal Authority.
The investment certificates will be issued at the values of EGP 10, EGP 100, EGP 1,000 with a five year maturity and a 12% interest rate.
The CBE governor announced that the interest on the EGP 1,000 certificates can be collected on a quarterly basis. However, the interest on investment certificates between EGP 10 and EGP 100 will be cumulative – redeemed at the end of the five year period.
“It wouldn’t make sense for citizens to go to banks and collect such a small amount,” the finance ministry official said.
When asked whether this might affect the demand for these certificates, the official said that “it might but not to a large degree”.
