Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Tarek Amer revealed the features of his plan to manage the monetary policy in the next few years of his tenure, during which he aims to reduce inflation and finance growth through adapting a more flexible exchange rate policy linked to market fluctuations.
Amer said the CBE is committed to paying back a Qatari deposit of $1bn, as well as $800m to the Paris Club in July. He added that he will work to transform the banking sector into a real financier for growth and development, rather than targeting securities trading.
He revealed his intention to continue the crackdown on the informal dollar market, saying it is likely for the dollar to fall from EGP 9.70 to EGP 4 though the anticipated dollar flows to Egypt in the next few years, which could boost the foreign exchange reserve to $25bn from a current $16.5bn.
He predicted the profits of the National Bank of Egypt to jump to EGP 10bn by the end of this fiscal year by offering the United Bank to a strategic investor and selling 20% of the Arab African International Bank, as well as increasing the capital of Banque du Caire by 20% through the Egyptian Exchange.
Amer noted that he targets the application of corporate governance in the banking sector through setting a maximum tenure of nine years for CEOs of private, public, and foreign banks in the domestic market to ensure that there will be fresh ideas and room for the next generation, in addition to raising the loans-to-deposits ratio at banks to finance growth.
