The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has unveiled the latest trends in deposit and lending indicators for banks operating within the local market, based on data up to the end of September 2024.
The CBE reported a steady increase in customer deposits, which reached EGP 12.89trn in September 2024, up from EGP 12.53trn in August 2024—a growth of EGP 357bn.
Government deposits totaled EGP 2.83trn, with around EGP 2.33trn in local currency and EGP 504.46bn in foreign currencies. Non-governmental deposits amounted to EGP 10.05trn, split between EGP 7.29trn in local currency and EGP 2.77trn in foreign currencies.
The breakdown of non-governmental deposits shows the private business sector contributing EGP 1.26trn, the household sector EGP 5.78trn, and non-residents EGP 78.91bn. Foreign currency deposits included EGP 41.01bn from the public business sector, EGP 54.52bn from the private business sector, EGP 1.63trn from households, and EGP 60.63bn from non-residents.
Household Sector Dominates Deposits
The CBE highlighted that the household sector now accounts for 74.7% of all bank deposits. Specifically, households represent 80.1% of local currency deposits and 60.1% of foreign currency deposits.
Overall, the deposit growth rate stood at 31.4%, with local currency deposits growing by 20.6% and foreign currency deposits increasing by 72.4%. As of September 2024, foreign currency deposits made up 27.29% of total deposits across all banks.
Credit Facilities Growth
Credit facilities, which include loans, documentary credits, and letters of guarantee for import operations, rose to EGP 7.8trn by the end of September 2024, a 5.4% increase from EGP 7.21trn in August 2024.
This rise is largely attributed to a surge in government credit facilities, which increased by EGP 785.5bn (11%), while credit facilities to non-governmental entities grew by EGP 167.1bn (5.4%). The government’s credit facilities saw a significant boost, with local currency balances rising by EGP 577.2bn and foreign currency balances growing by EGP 208.3bn.
The private business sector held the largest share of non-governmental credit facilities, making up 60.5% of the total. In terms of sectoral distribution, the industrial sector accounted for 33.8% of non-governmental credit facilities, followed by services at 26.8%, trade at 8.9%, and agriculture at 1.5%. The remaining 29% of credit facilities was distributed across various other sectors, including 28.9% to the household sector.
