Most holders of Suez Canal certificates of deposit (CDs) reinvested their returns into other savings products after the CDs matured on Thursday, Banque du Caire Chairman Tarek Fayed told MENA. The Suez Canal Bank began paying clients as their certificates matured but most people preferred to re-invest, said Chairman Hussein Refaai. The National Bank of Egypt also saw most of its Suez Canal investors renew their contracts or invest in similar certificates instead of withdrawing their returns last week, said retail CEO Alaa Farouk, according to Hapi Journal. The Suez Canal Authority raised more than EGP 60 bn in 2014 by offering five-year certificates to bank customers at a 12% interest rate. The proceeds were used to fund the construction of the new Suez Canal and several new tunnels. Analysts said last month that up to 80% of the 1.1 mn CD holders would likely reinvest the money into new certificates.

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