The banking market has been confused about the destiny of banknotes with inked handwritten words, after the spread of a rumour about banning their circulation by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
Media reports stated that the CBE announced on Monday that it will not recognise any banking transactions by money with personal lines written on them.
According to a source of a state-owned bank, banks have not received any written or verbal notice from the CBE of the new decision; however, they failed to receive a confirmation to their questions around the decision.
On the other hand, the CBE officials have refused to comment on the news.
“There are billions of pounds with inked words on them in the hands of citizens, so it is difficult for the CBE to make such a decision,” the source said, adding that in such a case the citizens will resort to banks to exchange the banned currency with a new one, and banks, in return, will resort to the CBE to exchange them, which will execute them and print new banknotes.
In its annual report, the CBE announced that it injected EGP 480.176bn in December 2018, while the money traded outside the CBE’s treasure reached EGP 477.220bn by the end of December 2018, compared to EGP 474.335bn in November, with an increase estimated at EGP 2.885bn.
The CBE pointed out that the value of banknotes issued from the category of EGP 200 reached EGP 290.423bn, while the value of banknotes exported from the EGP 100 category reached EGP 142.714, and the EGP 50 category reached EGP 23.612bn.
Moreover, the value of banknotes issued from the category of EGP 20 amount at EGP 7.586bn, EGP 4.997 for the EGP 10 category, and the category of EGP 5 reached EGP 4.241bn.
The volume of banknotes issued from the pound category was EGP 1.474bn, 50 pounds of EGP 455m, and 25 pounds reached EGP 174m.
