The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) raised the maximum amount of cash customers are allowed to withdraw from their bank accounts and scrapped limits on cash deposits entirely.
Cash withdrawal limits from bank branches are now at $7812 (EGP 150,000) up from $2604 (EGP 50,000), CBE said in a circular Thursday but withdrawal limits from ATMs remain unchanged at $1042 (EGP 20,000).
The apex lender lifted cash deposit limits entirely whether at bank branches or through ATMs. Previously, in-branch deposits were capped at $521 (EGP 10,000) per day for individuals, while ATM deposits were capped at $260 (EGP 5000) per day for both individuals and companies.
Egypt imposed a limit on cash withdrawals in April 2020 as part of the central bank’s strategy to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the country’s financial services sector. However, industry analysts said that the limits helped tamp down the black market in foreign currency by reducing the amount of available cash.
The move is the latest official decision by the newly appointed acting governor Hassan Abdalla, who replaced Governor Tarek Amer following his resignation on 20 August. Abdalla also kept key interest rates unchanged, but economists are saying the decision is probably temporary due to the tight monetary policy outlook.
Last month, Egypt’s central bank scrapped the pandemic-era waiver on inter-bank ATM withdrawal fees and capped withdrawal fees from an ATM of another bank at $0.26 (EGP 5).
