It’s not just us here at EnterpriseAM paying close attention to how Egypt’s economy is coping with Trump’s tariff war, as Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi called up National Bank of Egypt CEO Mohamed El Etreby to get a health-check on the country’s banking system and economy.

“Global economic policies, particularly the protectionist measures recently introduced by US President Donald Trump have spooked investors,” Etreby told El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 13:10). “This led to a significant outflow of hot money from Egyptian debt instruments, causing the exchange rate to spike before stabilizing again.” “We’ve seen a strong rebound in foreign appetite in recent days. At NBE alone, about USD 750 mn exited during the peak of the crisis — but USD 650-700 mn has already come back, roughly 80-90% of what was left,” El Etreby added.

El Etreby praised Central Bank Governor Hassan Abdalla’s messaging during recent meetings with Saudi investors. “His most important message was that the USD exchange rate in Egypt will be driven solely by supply and demand, and that the sharp spikes we saw in the past won’t be repeated under the flexible FX regime,” he said. “Fixing the exchange rate for extended periods wasn’t the right policy. We must learn from the past — and after two years of flotation, the indicators point to stabilization.”

What about high-yield CDs? With inflation on the decline, El Etreby said the bank will wait for the Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee decision this Thursday before making a call on whether to keep issuing high-yield savings certificates offering 27% annual or 23.5% monthly interest. “We’re still observing the market,” he said, adding that it’s premature to say whether the certificates will be discontinued.

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