The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has revealed that the total financial position of banks operating in the local market, other than the CBE, increased by EGP 371bn to about EGP 12.780trn in February 2023, compared to EGP 12.409trn in January 2023.
In its newly issued monthly report, CBE stated that on the assets side, cash balances in banks in February amounted to EGP 85.441bn, and the balances of banks at some of them locally recorded EGP 2.312trn, while their balances in banks abroad amounted to EGP 379.134bn.
He added that the balances of lending and discounting to clients recorded EGP 4.372trn, while the stock portfolio and banks’ investments in treasury bills recorded EGP 4.748trn, and the volume of other assets, which the CBE did not mention in detail, amounted to EGP 882.280bn.
Regarding liabilities, the CBE stated that the bank’s capital amounted to EGP 317.053bn, reserves recorded EGP 455.895bn, while the balance of provisions amounted to EGP 285.496bn.
Banks’ obligations to each other locally amounted to EGP 558.495bn, while their obligations to banks abroad amounted to EGP 419.613bn. The balances of bonds and long-term loans amounted to EGP 548.963bn, and the volume of other liabilities, which the CBE did not mention in detail, amounted to EGP 1.08trn.
In the same context, the CBE revealed that total customer deposits in banks, other than CBE, increased to about EGP 9.138trn in February 2023, compared to about EGP 9.021trn in January 2023, an increase of about EGP 116.9bn.
The CBE said that the value of government deposits in banks amounted to EGP 2.065trn in February, while the volume of non-governmental deposits amounted to EGP 7.072trn.
According to the CBE, the volume of government deposits in local currency amounted to EGP 1.725trn, while the volume of its deposits in foreign currencies amounted to EGP 340.036bn.
He pointed out that the volume of non-governmental deposits in local currency amounted to EGP 5.567trn, while the volume of non-governmental deposits in foreign currencies amounted to EGP 1.504trn.
According to the CBE, the public business sector acquired about EGP 124.896bn of non-governmental deposits in local currency, the private business sector EGP 868.753bn, the household sector EGP 4.554trn, and non-residents EGP 19.479bn.
This comes as the share of the public business sector in foreign currency deposits amounted to nearly EGP 93.819bn, the private business sector the equivalent of EGP 489.8bn, the household sector EGP 878.293bn, and non-residents EGP 43bn.
The household sector accounted for 77.5% of total deposits in banks until the end of February, according to the CBE. It pointed out that this sector acquired about 82.1% of total deposits in local currency, while its share of deposits in foreign currencies amounted to about 60.1%.
It explained that the growth rate in total deposits in banks reached about 33.8% during February 2023, unchanged from January 2023. The growth rate in deposits in local currency recorded 21.6%, while the growth rate of deposits in foreign currencies reached 115.3%.
The Central Bank indicated that the share of deposits in foreign currencies increased to 20.85% of total deposits in banks in February 2023, compared to 20.81% in January 2023.
On the other hand, the CBE revealed an increase in the balances of credit facilities granted by banks to their clients to about EGP 4.372trn in February 2023, an increase of EGP 807.5bn from the end of June 2022.
Credit facilities mean loans granted by banks to their customers, in addition to documentary credits and letters of guarantee that are opened to them to cover import operations.
The CBE attributed this increase to the increase in the balances of credit facilities granted by banks to non-government by EGP 370.3bn, at a rate of 16.8%, and the balances of credit facilities granted to the government by EGP 437.2bn, at a rate of 32.2%.
According to the CBE, the increase in the balances granted to the government was the result of the increase in balances in foreign currencies by EGP 380.6bn, and the balances in local currency by EGP 56.6bn.
The CBE said that according to the relative distribution of non-governmental credit facilities balances, the private business sector accounted for 62.8% of the total of those balances in February 2023. The industrial sector accounted for 29.1% of those balances, followed by the services sector with 27.6%. The trade sector accounted for 10.2%, and the agricultural sector 2.3%. As for undistributed sectors, they accounted for 30.8%, of which 30.6% was for the household sector.
Additionally, the CBE stated that the net domestic assets of the Egyptian banking sector increased by nearly EGP 1.540trn, or a rate of 22.1%, during the period from July 2022 to February 2023. This was the result of an increase in domestic credit by about EGP 1.443trn, at a rate of 21.4%, and net budget items by about EGP 97.3bn.
The CBE explained that domestic credit increased as a result of an increase in net liabilities from the government by EGP 1.033trn, liabilities from the private business sector by EGP 304.4bn, from the family sector by about EGP 94.1bn, and from the public business sector by EGP 10.9bn.
Moreover, the CBE reported a decrease in the net foreign assets of the banking system by EGP 332.2bn during the same period. It pointed out that this decline came as a result of a decline in its net foreign assets by EGP 127.9bn, and a decrease in net foreign assets in banks by EGP 204.3bn.
