Egypt’s Central Bank reported that the banking sector’s net foreign assets dropped 7.1% in February 2026 to $27.39bn from $29.51bn in January. The decline stems from commercial banks funding a partial exit of foreign investors from local debt amid the Iran war fallout. Meanwhile, local liquidity rose to EGP 14.286trn.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) reported a 7.1% decline in the banking sector’s net foreign assets in February 2026, reaching $27.39bn compared to $29.51bn in January. This was mainly due to a 19% drop in commercial banks’ net foreign assets to $11.75bn—the first decline in five months—while the CBE’s own assets rose 4% to $15.63bn, marking the ninth straight monthly gain.
Net foreign assets comprise banks’ foreign currency holdings minus external liabilities, acting as a key reserve for obligations. Separately, local liquidity in the banking sector increased to EGP 14.286trn in February from EGP 14.027trn in December 2025, up EGP 259.2bn.
Money supply grew to EGP 4.002trn from EGP 3.796trn, and currency outside banks rose to EGP 1.496trn from EGP 1.443trn. Non-government local currency deposits climbed to EGP 9.764trn, with demand deposits at EGP 2.505trn (public business sector EGP 100.354bn, private EGP 1.316trn, households EGP 1.089trn) and time deposits at EGP 7.258trn.
Foreign currency deposits reached EGP 3.026trn equivalent, as demand deposits hit EGP 748.043bn (public business EGP 38.546bn, private EGP 500.705bn, households EGP 208.812bn) and time deposits EGP 2.278trn.