The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, and Banque du Caire are about to launch certificates in euro to attract Egyptians working in Europe.
These certificates are similar to the ‘Belady’ dollar certificates that the three banks offered at the beginning of March.
A prominent banker told Daily News Egypt that the new certificates will be offered with three different maturity periods and interest rates: one year with an interest rate of 2%, three years with an interest rate of 3%, and five years with an interest rate of 3.5%.
When deciding the interest rate of this certificate, the banks took into account its ability to compete with the highest return on investments in euros in foreign markets, similar to the Beladi dollar certificates. Returns on ‘Belady’ dollar certificates were set at 3.5% for the one-year maturity period, 4.5% for the three-year maturity period, and 5.5% for the five-year maturity period.
The interest rates of both certificates are much higher than the highest interest rates of investment in dollars and euros on foreign markets, which is approximately 1%.
The highest return competing with ‘Belady’ dollar certificates is 4.25%, granted by the NBE, Banque Misr, and Banque du Caire on the dollar certificates they offered on last Thursday to attract the savings of dollar owners in the local market.
On the other hand, the return on investment in euros in the Egyptian market for one year amounts to approximately 2.2%, granted by the Central Bank of Egypt for investors in the euro treasury bills the bank put forward in November 2015.
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