The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has not received new deposits from Saudi Arabia following the signing of several memoranda of understanding (MOU) and agreements, CBE Deputy Governor Gamal Negm said, having last checked the status on Saturday evening.
Negm headed the opening session of a conference held by the Islamic Financial Services Board in Cairo on Sunday, during which he denied knowing whether or not CBE Governor Tarek Amer had signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia regarding the deposits during Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud’s visit to Cairo.
Regarding amendments to the banking law, Negm revealed that Banking Law No 88 of 2003 is currently being reconsidered to identify the needs of the current phase, whether by developing the law or amending its articles, in order to keep pace with economic and banking developments.
He added that the Banking Law was issued nearly 13 years ago, and that the CBE is studying any developments this law requires to achieve the best possible performance in the banking field in the local market.
The deputy general refused to reveal a specific time frame for the completion of this study, or any of the articles expected to be amended or changed.
Negm said the CBE is continuously working on evaluating the performance of banks operating in the local market and their administrations. It is ready to shorten the working period of any of the banks leaders if their results are not satisfactory, whether or not these leaders have completed the nine years the CBE decided as a maximum working period for the banks executive officials.
Negm asserted that the financial soundness indicators of the banks operating in the Egyptian market show that the Egyptian banking system is one of the best banking systems in the Middle East and Africa, especially with regard to capitals, liquidity, non-performing debts, and the percentage of their coverage.
During the aforementioned conference, “Islamic financial instruments as tools for financing development”, Negm said that the Islamic Sukuk is one of the important financial instruments. He added that issuing them will enable financial institutions that operate in accordance with Islamic law to manage their liquidity in a better way, which will positively impact the economy.
