مصر: إتاحة شهادات ادخار بعوائد مرتفعة لآجال أطول

Egyptian banks have restructured their savings products over the past two months in terms of terms and costs to attract new and existing customer savings, following the Central Bank's decisions to lower interest rates on the pound since last April, with expectations of further reductions until the end of the current year.

The most notable measures in restructuring banks' savings portfolios included shifting their focus from attracting short-term deposits over the past two years to expanding the offering of long-term savings certificates for periods ranging from 3 to 5 years, with decreasing interest rates reaching up to 27%, and cumulative returns on some types of certificates.

In April, the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr - the two largest state-owned banks in the country - stopped issuing annual savings certificates with an interest rate of 23.5% paid monthly, and 27% paid annually.

This coincided with the Central Bank's reduction of the interest rate on the pound by about 2.25% for the first time in four and a half years, followed by a further reduction of 1% in May, bringing it down to 24% for deposits and 25% for loans.

Banking sources told "Al Arabiya Business": "Most banks are continuously restructuring the terms of their savings products according to their requirements for deposits and targeted investment channels."

The sources explained that banks are expanding the offering of savings certificates for terms ranging from 3 to 4 to 5 years with high interest rates that gradually decrease to attract new savings or those due from annual certificates.

They noted that there is noticeable competition for individual savings after the decline in interest rates; this has prompted banks to temporarily offer high returns on long-term savings certificates to ensure liquidity stability, according to the sources.

"Al Arabiya Business" conducted a survey of banks that offer high returns paid monthly or cumulatively on long-term certificates, and it showed that the "Arab African International Bank" launched two new savings certificates during August, one of which is a "four-year certificate" with a cumulative return of 100%, paid in full upon maturity, with a minimum purchase amount of one thousand pounds.

Additionally, "National Bank of Egypt" and "Banque Misr" offer their clients a three-year savings certificate with a graduated return reaching 27% in the first year, 22% in the second year, and 17% in the third year, with the bank requiring the interest to be paid annually.

If the client wishes to receive the return monthly on the same certificate, the interest reaches 23% in the first year, 19% in the second year, and 15% in the third year.

The United Bank offers a three-year certificate with a cumulative return paid at the end of the term, with interest in the first year reaching 18%, in the second year 17.5%, and in the third year 17%.

The returns on the certificate vary according to the frequency of return payments specified by the client when linking the certificate, which has a minimum purchase limit of one thousand pounds.

Recently, Saib Bank launched a savings certificate called "excellence," for a term of 3 years, with a fixed annual return of 20% paid monthly.

The bank requires a minimum savings amount of 100,000 pounds to issue the certificate.