Extending banks' working hours in line with cabinet's decision: CBE official

CAIRO - 1 June 2020: A well-placed source at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said Sunday that the CBE's decision to extend banks' working hours as of Tuesday was taken in response to the cabinet's decision to amend the curfew hours.

The CBE closely follows up all surrounding developments and is ready to take decisions in favor of the Egyptian economy in a way that makes citizens' dealings with the banking system easier, the source told MENA.

The source added that all precautionary measures will be applied to prevent the spread of the pathogen.

Under the cabinet's decision, the daily curfew hours imposed nationwide as part of efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic will be from 20:00 to 5:00 CLT.

Earlier, the CBE responded to the request of the Federation of Egyptian Banks (FEB) to extend working hours as of Tuesday.

FEB Chairman Mohamed el Etreby said the decision to extend the banks' working hours from 8:30 am until 2:00 pm for customers and from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm for staffers has been taken in coordination between the FEB and the CBE.