The Egyptian government promotes sale of Cairo International Bank

The Egyptian government started a promotional campaign in the US to sell Cairo International Bank (CIB), which has 124 branches nationwide, as well as 6 branches in Arab countries and 2 in Africa.

According to statements by Mohamed Al-Atribi, President of Egypt’s Bank (Banque Misr) and the owner of CIB, the intention is to offer 45% of shares for sale on the stock exchange, before the end of the current fiscal year 2019/2020, and no later than next June.

Al-Atribi explained that foreign investors have no objection to buying the shares that will be offered, pointing out that the goal of selling this large percentage of the governmental bank is to achieve profits from the restructuring process to ensure the stability of the remaining State banks.

Read: Aged 75, Egyptian striker hopes to become world’s oldest soccer pro

The Central Bank of Egypt had announced the offering of Cairo and the United Bank to the stock market during the first half of 2020, and that the benefits of the sale will be re-pumped into Egypt and Al-Ahli Banks, to increase their capital.

For his part, Mohamed Atta Selim, Member in the Egyptian Parliament, warned against the government’s move to sell CIB to fill the budget deficit due to the increased debt, caused by external borrowing.

Selim pointed out that it is not the first time that the government intends to sell CIB specifically, as it took a similar step in 2016, but failed to promote the deal.

In a briefing request to the Prime Minister, Selim stressed that the government sells profitable projects, and then begins to search for building projects which are likely to succeed, stressing that selling these successful projects is not the way to get out of the impasse and the increasing debt disaster.

The bank is the third-largest bank operating in Egypt, as it holds stakes in companies and banks in Egypt and abroad, and achieved net profits during 2019, after taxes,  estimated at 2.5 billion EGP, while its total assets amounted to 176 billion EGP.