Bad economic policies leading to closure of banks in Egypt

The National Bank of Oman’s decision to leave Egypt in 2020 may be attributed to the losses it has incurred in the past years as a result to the recession that the country’s economy is suffering, Arabi21 reported citing economists.

The Omani bank is the eighth foreign financial institutions to end its operations in Egypt since the July 2013 military coup, along with ten other banks that reduced their capital and number of branches.

The banks that left Egypt include National Société Générale Bank, which left shortly after the 2013 coup. It was followed by France’s BNP Parisbas and Greece’s Piraeus Bank, all in the same year.

In 2015, Canada’s Scotiabank followed suit, selling its shares to the Arab African International Bank.

READ: As petrol prices rise, more Egyptians convert to dual-fuel vehicles

America’s Citibank reduced its exposure to the Egypt market by selling some of its personal banking services such as credit cards and focused on consulting and some banking services.

Recently, Britain’s Barclays left the country completely, closing down its 56 branches.