No FX for you: Credit cards issued on or after 21 December will come with asix-month bar on FX transactions — both at home and abroad — per recent verbal instructions from the Central Bank of Egypt, several banking sources told Enterprise. Under the new rule, credit card users will have to wait for six months or until further notice before using their FX quota, which stands at the equivalent of EGP 7,750 at most banks for foreign currency transactions executed in Egypt.

The rationale: The CBE’s move came to guard against draining FX liquidity after banks started seeing a surge in credit card issuances, one source said. The rules close another loophole for businesses and individuals trying to bypass restrictions introduced by the central bank in October on credit cards FX transactions.

Older cards are in the clear: The restrictions don’t apply to cards issued before 21 December.

Remember: The latest foreign exchange controls put monthly credit card limits on local FX transactions at the equivalent of EGP 7,750. For transactions abroad, customers must notify their banks of their travel plans to gain access to their full card limit. They must also provide proof of using their cards abroad — by sending their bank arrival and departure stamps on their passports — within a 90-day period.

There isn’t much FX liquidity in the banking system. Net foreign assets in commercial banks were at negative USD 15.9 bn in October, according to the most recent data from the central bank.

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