Credit facilities granted by banks to their customers increased by about EGP 38.4bn from July to October 2016 to reach EGP 981.2bn, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
The CBE explained in its report released on Wednesday that the private sector acquired about 59.6% of the total of credit facilities.
The industrial sector accounted for 32.9% of the total credit facilities granted by banks to their customers from July to October 2016, followed by the services sector, which includes tourism, obtaining 26.6% of these facilities. The trade sector accounted for 10.8%, according to the CBE.
In what has become a continuing trend, the agriculture sector came last on the list, registering only 1.4% of the total of these facilities during the last fiscal year.
A number of other sectors were not listed in detail in the CBE’s report. Collectively, these sectors—including the household sector—received 28.3% of total facilities.
According to Ezz El-Din Hassanein, a banking expert and general manager of an Arab bank operating in the Egyptian market, Egypt needs to increase the volume of loans granted to various economic sectors, especially the industrial sector, as this sector holds great importance in the Egyptian economy.
He explained that the industrial sector is the most important sectors that helped increase economic growth, reduce unemployment, and increase foreign exchange reserves of export earnings.
Hassanein criticised the size of credit facilities granted by banks to the agriculture sector, stressing that agriculture is a very important sector in the Egyptian economy, especially as it is related to the provision of basic commodities to Egyptian citizens, in addition to its contribution to increasing exports.
The report also showed that the volume of deposits increased in banks during October 2016 by about EGP 2.21tn to reach EGP 2.224tn, compared to EGP 2.202tn by late September 2016.
The growth rate in the volume of deposits in banks reached about 16.99% during October 2016. The growth rate of deposits in local currency reached 17.1% and the growth rate of deposits in foreign currency reached 16.5%.
