Banking sector continues to seek large foreign loans to prop up the EGP?

Banking sector continues to seek large foreign loans to prop up the EGP? Banque Misr is looking to borrow USD 550 mn from foreign lenders before year-end “to improve USD liquidity,” Vice Chairman Akef El Maghraby told Reuters. No details were provided on which foreign lenders the bank was considering, but El Maghraby said Citibank and Emirates NBD will arrange the loan. As we noted last week, Arqaam Capital figures the banking industry has propped up the EGP by providing as much as USD 4 bn to cover outflows as foreign investors have exited Egyptian debt. The system needs an infusion of about that same amount to ensure it can continue to serve as a shock-absorber for the EGP, the bank said, suggesting the CBE should dip into its reserves. Banks, state-owned institutions in particular, have in the meantime sough significant injections of USD from international lenders.