{"id":578901,"date":"2023-01-18T04:02:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T04:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/01\/18\/this-morning-how-long-will-25-cds-last-plus-efg-hermes-could-exit-pakistan-jordan\/"},"modified":"2023-01-18T04:02:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T04:02:59","slug":"this-morning-how-long-will-25-cds-last-plus-efg-hermes-could-exit-pakistan-jordan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/01\/18\/this-morning-how-long-will-25-cds-last-plus-efg-hermes-could-exit-pakistan-jordan\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: How long will 25% CDs last? PLUS: EFG Hermes could exit Pakistan, Jordan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people. <\/strong>The EGP continues to trade actively on the back of both local savers de-dollarizing and portfolio inflows from international institutional investors.<\/p>\n

THE BIG QUESTION here at home: How long will high-yield CDs stay on the market? <\/strong><\/p>\n

State-owned Banque du Caire is now offering a <\/strong>one-year, 25% certificate of deposit (CD)<\/a><\/strong>, the bank\u2019s website<\/a> shows. As with the high-yield CDs on offer at the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr<\/a>, subscribers can opt for a one-time payment of 25% when their CDs mature or go for a monthly payout at a reduced annualized rate of 22.5%, the statement reads. The minimum buy-in is EGP 1k and only individuals can buy.<\/p>\n

Scramble for deposits: <\/strong>BdC follows other institutions including CIB and QNB Al Ahli<\/a> (which now have 22.5% CDs) in offering a high-yield product to stem outflows of deposits to NBE and BM.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect the high-yield CDs to be around forever, bankers are warning. <\/strong>Banque Misr Chairman Mohamed El Etreby says the CDs at NBE and BM could be withdrawn in days<\/a> \u2014 and by the end of the month at the latest. He was speaking in an interview with Kelma Akhira\u2019s Lamees El Hadidi last night (watch, runtime, 10:43<\/a>.) CIB\u2019s acting retail banking CEO, Rashwan Hammady, also spoke with El Hadidi about the current CD craze (watch, runtime: 4:25<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The high-yield CDs at Banque Misr and the NBE have attracted a combined EGP 335 bn <\/strong>as of yesterday, <\/strong>including EGP 215 bn at the NBE and EGP 120 bn at Banque Misr, Banque El Etreby told Lamees.<\/p>\n

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Can we hit 30 mn tourists annually by 2028? <\/strong>The government wants to see Egypt welcome 30 mn annually by 2028, Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa said at AmCham\u2019s monthly luncheon this week, according to Youm7<\/a>. The Madbouly government will launch a national tourism strategy<\/a> this quarter with that goal in mind. Some 13 mn tourists<\/a> visited Egypt in 2019.<\/p>\n

YES, AND\u2026 <\/strong>Tourism is a key source of hard currency for the country \u2014 and it\u2019s not just a visitor numbers game. What we need to do is find ways to increase the average spend per tourist by improving our product and positioning. We recently spoke with Somabay CEO Ibrahim El Missiri<\/a><\/strong> and Travco Holidays General Manager Moataz Sedky<\/a><\/strong> about just this topic in our CEO poll on FDI and exports.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-<\/strong><\/p>\n

The global \u201c<\/strong>polycrisis<\/a><\/strong>\u201d that has the chattering class in Davos fretting has hit close <\/strong>to home. <\/strong>The odds that 2023 will be a challenging year is the headline story at the World Economic Forum in Davos \u2014 with IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva telling CNBC<\/a> yesterday that things will get worse before they get better. Growth will continue to slow throughout 2023 and bottom out by the end of the year before we move on to better things in 2024, she said, as we noted in yesterday\u2019s EnterprisePM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>THE HOMETOWN ANGLE- Frontier and emerging markets champion EFG Hermes says <\/strong>the global climate played heavily in its decision to explore a pullback from Pakistan, Jordan and (potentially) one other market. <\/strong>The high-profile EGX-listed institution is looking to \u201csimplify its operations\u201d and double-down on its core strengths as it aims to improve its return on equity and \u201cbetter equip itself for the unfavorable global economic environment,\u201d it said yesterday afternoon in a regulatory filing (pdf)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pakistan and Jordan account for no more than rounding errors on EFG Hermes\u2019 income <\/strong>statement<\/strong> \u2014 they accounted for less than 1% of revenues in both 9M 2022 and FY 2021.<\/p>\n

Both potential exits are at early stages: <\/strong>EFG Hermes says it has received a binding offer for its operations in Jordan and an expression of interest in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

Nothing else on the auction block<\/strong>: <\/strong>\u201cWe don\u2019t expect to exit any other markets (other than the aforementioned third market that is in advanced negotiations stage),\u201d the firm said in its statement, though it noted that 2023 could see \u201cadditional efficiency-enhancing moves\u201d as it continues to review operations.<\/p>\n

<\/a> MEANWHILE- It\u2019s <\/strong>day three<\/strong> in Davos. <\/strong>Running under the headline \u201cCooperation in a Fragmented World,\u201d today\u2019s sessions at the World Economic Forum kick off at 7:15am CLT and will run until 7pm. Here some of the key sessions to keep an eye out for:<\/p>\n