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Attempts by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to boost lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) dates back more than a decade. The Access to Finance initiative was one of the pillars of the second Egyptian banking reform plan – which was in effect over the 2008-11 period – and introduced the idea of exempting banks from a portion of...

In November 2016 the executive board of the IMF approved a three-year, $12bn loan under an extended fund facility (EFF) to assist with Egypt’s economic reform strategy. The liberalisation of the exchange rate, elimination of the parallel market and the stability of the Egyptian pound were crucial goals of the EFF programme. Moreover, several...

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is one of the oldest stock markets in the Middle East and dates back to 1883. It includes the main market, an over-the-counter market, and the Nile Stock Exchange (Nilex) for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Since the election of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in 2014, Egypt’s economic policy has been centred on reducing public sector costs and boosting private sector growth. Five years later, the issue of revitalising private enterprise remains prominent. In a 2018 assessment of the challenges and opportunities facing the country, the IMF...

Taken together, the Central Bank of Egypt and the Banking Law No. 88 of 2003 act as prudent enablers for the domestic banking industry. However, much of the nation’s increasingly complex financial arena is governed by other bodies and regulations. Many of the non-core activities of Egypt’s banks fall into what is collectively known as non-...

The period of easily raising funds from abroad seems to be coming to an end for emerging markets around the world. In the new environment of higher interest rates in the US and increased competition for capital flows, portfolio managers are becoming more selective with where they place their money.