27 February 2013
Cairo: Egypt's borrowing costs are set to drop as the slowest loan growth three years amid escalating political turmoil prompts banks to park funds in government notes, the Middle East's top money markets fund manager said.
"Banks have nowhere else to put their money," Khalil El Bawab, director of fixed income at Cairo-based EFG-Hermes Holding, said by phone on February 19. "Although there's a lack of visibility on where the country is going, the market's risk appetite has been adjusted due to the persistence of instability in the last two years."
The yield on one-year Egyptian pound Treasury bills is poised to decline another 25 basis points in the coming month after dropping 55 basis points from January's four-month high to 14 per cent last week, El Bawab said.
EFG-Hermes' Bank of Alexandria Fixed Income Fund, which El Bawab manages, has returned 2.7 per cent this year, ranking first among 57 regional funds tracked by Bloomberg.
Cairo: Egypt's borrowing costs are set to drop as the slowest loan growth three years amid escalating political turmoil prompts banks to park funds in government notes, the Middle East's top money markets fund manager said.
"Banks have nowhere else to put their money," Khalil El Bawab, director of fixed income at Cairo-based EFG-Hermes Holding, said by phone on February 19. "Although there's a lack of visibility on where the country is going, the market's risk appetite has been adjusted due to the persistence of instability in the last two years."
The yield on one-year Egyptian pound Treasury bills is poised to decline another 25 basis points in the coming month after dropping 55 basis points from January's four-month high to 14 per cent last week, El Bawab said.
EFG-Hermes' Bank of Alexandria Fixed Income Fund, which El Bawab manages, has returned 2.7 per cent this year, ranking first among 57 regional funds tracked by Bloomberg.
© Times of Oman 2013
