The Central Bank of Egypt is the central bank of Egypt which was founded in 1961 and its legal domicile is the city of Cairo. The Central Bank of Egypt is an autonomous public legal person, assuming the authorities and powers vested therein by Law No. 88 for 2003, and the Presidential Decree No. 64 for 2004, Issuing the Statute of the Central Bank.

According to Law No. 88, the paid-up capital of the Central Bank of Egypt shall be one billion Egyptian pounds. Its Board of Directors may, in agreement with the Minister of Finance, appropriate a percentage of the net annual profits to increase the capital of the Bank.

The Central Bank of Egypt works on realizing price stability and banking system soundness, within the context of the general economic policy of the State, establishes the objectives of the monetary policy and shall be concerned with formulating and implementing the monetary, credit, and banking policies.

The Central Bank takes the means with which it ensures the realization of its objectives and the discharge of its functions. It have the following powers:

1. issuing banknotes and determining their denominations and specifications
2. managing liquidity in the national economy. It may issue the securities commensurate with the nature of its funds and activities. It may also conduct open market operations;
3. influencing the banking credit in a way warranting the fulfillment of the actual needs of the different aspects of economic activity;
4. supervising the units of the banking sector;
5. managing the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the State;
6. regulating and managing the foreign exchange market;
7. supervising the national payments system;
8. recording and following up the external debt on the government, the economic and service authorities, the public sector, the public business sector, and the private sector, according to the forms to be set by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank;

The Board of Directors of the Central Bank is the authority responsible for the realization of the objectives of the Bank, in addition to formulating and implementing the monetary, credit, and banking policies. To these ends, the Board is vested with all powers, particularly the following:

1. determining the means and instruments of the monetary policy to be followed, and their implementation procedures. It shall also determine credit and discount rates and the fees on the banking operations as carried out by the Central Bank, according to the nature and duration of these operations, without being restricted by the limits prescribed in any other law, along with determining the rules to be followed in evaluating the assets counterpart to the Egyptian banknotes;
2. setting the regulatory and supervisory standards to guarantee the sound financial positions of banks, and their efficient performance, as well as issuing the necessary decisions for their implementation, and evaluating the efforts exerted in connection with guaranteeing the soundness of bank credit, and ensuring the application of standards of credit quality and financial soundness;
3. approving the budget, financial statements and reports, to be prepared by the Bank on its financial position and the outcomes of its activities;
4. approving the organizational structure of the Bank. Such a structure may comprise units of a special nature, enjoying technical, financial, and administrative independence. Such units are to be established by virtue of a decision taken by the Governor, pending a decision taken by the Board of Directors. The statute of the Bank shall determine these units, their nature, and the scope of their purposes;
5. issuing the internal bylaws and systems connected with the financial, administrative, and technical affairs of the Bank, the regulations of auctions and tenders, and the Bank’s personnel regulations, without being restricted by the rules prescribed in the laws and regulations applicable in the government, the public sector and the public business sector;

Useful links

Currency of Egypt:

Egyptian pound

List of Central Banks:

Central Banks

Official website of Central Bank of Egypt:

www.cbe.org.eg

Egyptian Exchange:

www.egyptse.com

Ministry of Finance of Egypt:

www.mof.gov.eg