On Sunday, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced it had instructed financial institutions in the country to put withdrawal limits in place for cash. Regional reports disclose that Egyptian residents can only withdraw 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($640) and businesses can only withdraw 50,000 pounds ($3,200). The CBE cited concerns over the covid-19 outbreak and also limited automated teller machine (ATM) withdrawals to 5,000 pounds per day.
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Central Bank of Egypt Enforces Cash Withdrawal Limits at Bank Branches and ATMs
The global economy has been suffering from the economic hardships tied to the covid-19 outbreak that has ravaged multiple countries. The coronavirus scare has caused people to question the use of cash due to the uncleanliness of bills. For instance, at the beginning of March, the U.S. central bank told the public it was holding U.S. dollars repatriated from Asian countries in a separate area. Further, the faltering economy has also caused banks in countries like the U.S. and Germany to place withdrawal limits on cash.
Now Egyptians are facing the same cash issues and the country’s central bank is imposing cash withdrawal limits across the board. In addition to the withdrawal limits imposed, the CBE’s Tarek Amer told reporters on Sunday via Sada al-Balad TV that “Egypt is facing a cash problem.” Amer disclosed that there’s roughly $26 billion being transferred out of Egypt to international banks and Egyptian travelers are also taking lots of cash with them when they travel abroad. However, local media quickly pointed out that Egyptian expat remittances were well over $26 billion and were actually closer to $34 billion.
