Bank deposits rise to EGP 17.145trn as of May 2026: CBE

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has revealed the latest deposit and lending indicators for banks operating in the Egyptian market through May 2026.

According to a recent CBE report, customer deposits at banks rose to EGP 17.145trn in May 2026, up from EGP 17.031trn in the previous month, an increase of EGP 114bn.

The CBE said government deposits at banks stood at around EGP 3.304trn, including approximately EGP 2.8trn in local currency and the equivalent of around EGP 498.954bn in foreign currencies.

Non-government deposits amounted to around EGP 13.841trn, comprising approximately EGP 10.328trn in local currency and the equivalent of around EGP 3.512trn in foreign currencies.

The public business sector accounted for around EGP 186.614bn of total non-government deposits in local currency, while the private business sector held EGP 1.804trn, the household sector EGP 8.177trn, and non-residents EGP 160.651bn.

Meanwhile, the public business sector accounted for the equivalent of EGP 224.060bn of total non-government deposits in foreign currencies, while the private business sector held the equivalent of EGP 1.141trn, the household sector EGP 2.059trn, and non-residents the equivalent of EGP 87.335bn.

Household sector

According to the CBE, the household sector accounted for 75.3% of total bank deposits in May. The sector accounted for around 80.4% of total local-currency deposits and around 60.1% of foreign-currency deposits.

The CBE said total bank deposits grew by around 18.6%, with local-currency deposits increasing by 20.6% and foreign-currency deposits by 12.9%.

Foreign-currency deposits accounted for 25.2% of total deposits at banks, it added.

Credit facilities

Meanwhile, the CBE said outstanding credit facilities extended by banks increased to EGP 11.564trn in May 2026, up by around EGP 2.242trn from June 2025.

Credit facilities include loans extended by banks to their customers, as well as letters of credit and letters of guarantee opened on their behalf to cover import transactions.

In its monthly report, the CBE attributed the increase to a rise of EGP 1.346trn, or 27.8%, in outstanding credit facilities extended by banks to the government, alongside an increase of EGP 896.1bn, or 20%, in facilities extended to non-government entities.

According to the CBE, the increase in facilities extended to the government reflected a rise of EGP 856.8bn in local-currency balances and the equivalent of EGP 489.6bn in foreign-currency balances.

The CBE added that, according to the relative distribution of outstanding non-government credit facilities, the private business sector accounted for 60.7% of the total.

By economic activity, the industrial sector accounted for 33% of these facilities, followed by the services sector at 28.6%, trade at 7.8%, and agriculture at 1.5%. Unclassified sectors accounted for 29.1%, including 29% for the household sector.

Domestic liquidity

In a related development, the CBE said domestic liquidity in the banking sector increased by around EGP 2.257trn between July 2025 and May 2026 to approximately EGP 15.330trn, representing growth of 17.3%.

The increase was reflected in a rise of around EGP 1.142trn, or 11.8%, in quasi-money and an increase of around EGP 1.115trn, or 32.9%, in money supply.

The increase in quasi-money resulted from a rise of EGP 809bn, or 12.3%, in non-current local-currency deposits and an increase equivalent to EGP 333.2bn, or 10.8%, in foreign-currency deposits.

Meanwhile, the increase in money supply reflected a rise of EGP 759.1bn, or 37.8%, in current local-currency deposits and an increase of around EGP 359.5bn, or 25.8%, in currency in circulation outside the banking system.

The CBE said the increase in domestic liquidity between July 2025 and May 2026 reflected increases in both net domestic assets and net foreign assets within the banking system.

Net domestic and foreign assets

The CBE said net domestic assets in the banking sector increased by around EGP 1.8trn during the period, representing growth of 14.6%. This reflected an increase of around EGP 3.152trn, or 21.2%, in domestic credit, alongside an increase of around EGP 1.351trn in the negative balance of net balancing items.

Domestic credit increased as a result of a rise of EGP 2.150trn in net claims on the government, EGP 645.5bn in claims on the private business sector, EGP 99.1bn in claims on the public business sector, and around EGP 257.1bn in claims on the household sector.

The CBE also reported that net foreign assets in the banking system increased by the equivalent of EGP 457bn between July 2025 and May 2026, representing growth of 61.6%.

In a recent report, the CBE said the increase resulted from a rise equivalent to EGP 296.7bn in the central bank’s net foreign assets and the equivalent of EGP 160.3bn in those of banks.

Reserve money

In the same context, the CBE said reserve money increased by EGP 248bn, or 10.7%, during the same period to reach around EGP 2.568trn in May 2026.

The increase was reflected in a rise of around EGP 299.4bn, or 19.9%, in currency in circulation outside the CBE’s vaults, while banks’ local-currency deposits with the central bank declined by around EGP 51.4bn, or 6.3%.

According to the CBE, the increase in reserve money reflected, on the one hand, an increase equivalent to EGP 296.7bn in the central bank’s net foreign assets and a rise of EGP 110.1bn in net claims on banks.

On the other hand, net claims on the government increased by EGP 49.4bn, alongside an increase of EGP 208.2bn in the negative balance of net balancing items.