Egypt's banks are well able to absorb shocks, the central bank says
Capital is well above the minimum, bad loans are just 1.9% and profits rose 43% in the first quarter, according to the Central Bank of Egypt's financial stability report.
Cairo — Egypt's banking sector is highly resilient and able to absorb shocks despite global financial risks and geopolitical tension, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) says in its latest Financial Stability Report, Daily News Egypt reports.
The health check (figures as of March 2026)
- Total assets: EGP 26.9 trillion; loans: EGP 11.4 trillion
- Non-performing loans: 1.9% of total loans, down from the previous period
- Capital adequacy: 18.5%, against a 12.5% minimum; leverage ratio 7.6% against a 3% minimum
- Liquidity: liquid assets are 47.1% of total assets, and the liquidity coverage ratio is far above the 100% minimum in both local and foreign currency
- Profits: net profits rose 43% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier; return on equity was 33.9%
- Lending: the loan-to-deposit ratio rose to 68.4% as lending outpaced deposits; most loans are in Egyptian pounds, which limits currency risk
Households hold 59.8% of deposits, and the CBE says depositor confidence remains strong. Four banks are now classed as domestically systemically important, down from five a year earlier.
Beyond the numbers
The CBE says it is preparing a second cybersecurity framework for banks, with guidance on AI security and cloud services, and has launched a fourth round of its fintech regulatory sandbox, which is testing a credit-scoring model based on alternative data.
Source: Daily News Egypt, reporting by Hossam Mounir, 17 October 2026.
