The volume of credit facilities provided by banks operating in the local market to their clients during October 2018 increased by EGP 25.3bn, reaching EGP 1.683tn, up from EGP 1.657tn in September, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
Credit facilities are loans provided by banks to their clients alongside documentary credits and letters of guarantees that were opened to cover import operations.
According to the CBE’s monthly report, the total facilities directed to the government reached EGP 469.8bn at the end of October, including about EGP 212.7bn in local currency, and about EGP 257bn in foreign currency.
The total facilities directed to non-government bodies reached EGP 1.213tn, including about EGP 896.6bn in local currency and about EGP 316.6bn in foreign currency.
According to the CBE, the private business sector has obtained about 61% of the non-government credit facilities provided by banks to the various economic sectors until the end of October 2018.
The CBE noted that the industry came at the top of the sectors most funded by banks, as it received alone about 34.1% of the total of these facilities, followed by the services sector which acquired about 28.5% of the facilities, then the trade sector by 10.6%.
As usual, the agricultural sector received the lowest share of credit facilities granted by banks, accounting for only 1.3% of such facilities until the end of October 2018.
The CBE added that there are other sectors that were not mentioned in detail, topped by the household sector. They obtained about 25.5% of these facilities.
In the same context, the CBE revealed that the total loan portfolio of banks increased by EGP 25.4bn at the end of October to reach EGP 1.671tn, compared to EGP 1.646tn at the end of September.
The CBE pointed out that the loans provided to the government sector in both local and foreign currencies, increased to EGP 469.845bn in October, up from EGP 458.848bn in September, including EGP 212.758bn in Egyptian pounds and the equivalent of EGP 257.087bn in foreign currencies.
According to the CBE, non-government loans recorded EGP 1.201tn at the end of October, against EGP 1.187tn in September, including EGP 886bn in local currency and EGP 315.86bn in hard cash.
In a related context, the CBE stated that banks’ investments in securities, including shares, bonds and investment fund securities marked an increase of EGP 76.6bn in October 2018.
Finally, total investments reached EGP 1.832tn at the end of October, up from EGP 1.755tn in September, including EGP 1.383tn in local currency, and the equivalent of EGP 448.496bn in foreign currencies.
