Banks now have until 14 September to comply with the new capital requirements in the 2020 Banking Act after the central bank agreed to extend the deadline by a year, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette (pdf).

The rules: Under the legislation, banks have to have at least EGP 5 bn in liquid assets, a tenfold hike from previous rules. Foreign lenders’ minimum capital was raised threefold to USD 150mn, while forex bureaus’ increased fivefold to EGP 25 mn.

Why the extension? After the bill was signed into law in September 2020, banks were initially given a year to comply with the rules, but the legislation allows the central bank to extend this period by another two years. The CBE has not publicly commented on the reasons for the extension.