Egypt Central Bank increases cash withdrawal limits

CAIRO: Egypt's central bank on Thursday increased the maximum amount of cash customers are allowed to withdraw from their bank accounts and removed restrictions on how much they could deposit entirely.

Under a rule put in place in April 2020, the central bank restricted withdrawals to 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,600), but now will allow withdrawals of up to 150,000 pounds, the bank's newly appointed governor Hassan Abdalla announced in a circular.

According to the 2020 rule, the limits were imposed as part of a plan to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic. But bankers say the limits helped tamp down the black market in foreign currency by reducing the amount of available cash.