A banking source revealed that the proceeds of the new certificates of deposits at the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr, with returns of 27 percent and 23.5 percent, exceeded LE32 billion during the past three days.
The source added that NBE’s proceeds exceeded LE17 billion, while Banque Misr’s reached about LE15 billion on Monday after work resumed after the end of the Christmas holiday.
The two banks saw large numbers of people flocking to their branch offices to buy new certificates or to exchange the value of the previous one with a return of 25 percent and 22.5 percent, after reaching its maturity period.
Al-Masry Al-Youm monitored high customer demand on Monday since early morning at the branches of the two banks in the areas of Dokki and al-Haram, returning and new alike, to purchase the new savings certificates.
These CDs last a year with a return of 23.5 percent per month and 27 percent per year, with a return that is paid out at the end of the period after a year.
Customers at a NBE branch within the Dokki area confirmed that purchasing new certificates is the best means available to save money and obtain a high monthly income.
An employee at Cairo University Eman Saleh, said that the certificates are a good opportunity to obtain a fixed, high monthly return compared to savings certificates in other banks.
Ship traffic controller, Hassan Salah explained that purchasing new certificates is very useful at the present time to support the local economy with the aim of reducing inflation rates.
And school principal Hoda Tantawi said he decided to buy 27 percent certificates in the amount of the end-of-service gratuity for two reasons – first, to obtain an appropriate return upon reaching retirement age, and second to keep the amount in the bank, which is better than keeping it at home.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
