CBE urges banks to launch headquarters in New Capital

CAIRO - 17 May 2017: Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Tarek Amer encouraged Egyptian banks Tuesday to launch headquarters and carry out effective roles in the new Administrative Capital, describing it as “the new financial hub worldwide.”

This comes as part of Amer’s meeting late Tuesday with chairmen of local banks and CBE’s senior officials that aimed to discuss essential economic decisions and developments in the banking sector.

Chairman of the Arab-African International bank Hassan Abuallah suggested that new investments’ incentives should be announced through new legislations to attract international banks to the new Administrative Capital.

The New Administrative Capital will be built on 700 square meters east of Cairo, and will include 1.1 million residential units, an administrative district on 550 feddans (1 feddan = 1.038 acres), a presidential palace, a government district including headquarters of all government offices, embassies, and a financial district based on the master plan.

Amer also pointed out the importance of banks’ support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), monitoring executive performance and implementing effective strategies in the banking sector.

He also added that some of the CBE and the banking system laws will be amended based on expert opinions from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and international practices conducted by the Bank of England (British Central Bank) among others.

The new law amendments are expected to be discussed by the Federation of Egyptian Banks and will be approved later by the CBE in efforts to develop the role of the Egyptian banking sector.