Islamic banks will face challenges throughout 2016 associated with the management of liquidity due to a 50% decline in the size of exported bonds through 2015 compared to 2013, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) deputy governor Gamal Negm said.
Negm added that the government reissuing bonds when they are due will enable Islamic banks to invest their surplus funds.
The CBE deputy governor’s remarks came during a speech at the seminar held by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) in Cairo from Sunday to Monday, which focused on supporting development through bonds.
Negm emphasised that the bonds market is still in need of expansion on the international level. He also pointed out that local and international agencies have made remarkable progress in the field of trading bonds.
He estimated the total existing bonds in the world registered $300bn at the end of 2014, and were mainly distributed in the Middle East as an important source of underwriting bonds.
