Banking

The 2011 revolution had an impact on Egypt’s sizable banking sector but was not nearly as dramatic as was expected, thanks to a steady stream of reforms since 2004 that have improved the overall health and transparency of the country’s financial institutions. High exposure to sovereign debt weakened the outlook for some banks, and profitability took a hit, but overall liquidity remains high, thanks to an increase in deposits of 6% in the year up to September 2011. By the end of 2011, non-performing loans had dropped from 13.6% to 10.9%, and non-government lending began to see a slight rise year-on-year by early 2012. This chapter contains an interview with Farouk El Okdah, Governor, Central Bank of Egypt; and Hisham Ezz Al Arab, Chairman, Commercial International Bank.