Egypt's central bank imposes daily withdrawal limit of LE 150,000

CAIRO - 31 January 2024: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has instructed banks to set a maximum daily withdrawal limit for a single client's account or all their accounts at LE 150,000. 

The CBE clarified that this maximum limit applies to both cash withdrawals and cheque transactions, without any exceptions for withdrawals exceeding LE 150,000 from all client accounts. Any previous exceptions granted to any entity have been canceled. 

If a client insists on cashing a cheque or rejects it, the cheque will be declined, stating non-compliance with the instructions of the CBE, it clarified.

This directive takes effect starting Wednesday, Jan. 31.

Banks will send amounts exceeding LE 150,000 twice daily, at 12 PM and 3 PM, to the CBE for review and approval before execution.

This decision precedes the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBE scheduled for Thursday, its first meeting to determine interest rates in 2024. Egyptians are eagerly awaiting the fate of the pound against the dollar.

Analysts, research firms, and studies anticipate interest rates to remain unchanged despite high inflation and continued increases in the prices of goods and services. 

Egypt is working to curb the rise of the dollar in the parallel market, crossing LE 70. 

Authorities have conducted raids on foreign exchange traders in the black market, who, through speculation, raised the dollar to unprecedented levels. They conceal currency from circulation, trading it outside the banking system. 

Stringent actions have been taken against gold mafias controlling the price of the yellow metal, causing the gram's price to reach record highs.