Macroeconomic Shocks and Banking Sector Developments in Egypt
From 2008 to 2011, Egypt was hit by significant shocks, both global and country-specific. This paper assesses the impact of the resulting macroeconomic instability on the banking sector, and examines its role as a shock absorber. The Central Bank o...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/17172327/macroeconomic-shocks-banking-sector-developments-egypt-macroeconomic-shocks-banking-sector-developments-egypt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12179 |
Summary: | From 2008 to 2011, Egypt was hit by
significant shocks, both global and country-specific. This
paper assesses the impact of the resulting macroeconomic
instability on the banking sector, and examines its role as
a shock absorber. The Central Bank of Egypt accommodated the
shocks by supplying liquidity to the market. The paper
verifies a change in the fiscal regime from one in which the
primary fiscal balance was used an instrument to stabilize
the public debt ratio to one in which the policy instrument
stopped playing that role and affected investors'
assessment of the risk of holding public debt. This pattern
suggests that fiscal conditions influenced exchange rate and
price expectations originating a fiscal dominance situation
in which the Central Bank could not control inflation.
Hence, the Central Bank lacked functional independence in
spite of its de jure independence, which underscores the
importance of strengthening institutions that facilitate
policy coordination and allow policy to be more predictable.
The government also funds itself through non-market
mechanisms, in a typical financial repression scheme. The
paper estimates the revenue from financial repression at
about 2.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, which
together with the revenues from seignoriage add up to close
to 50 percent of the budgeted tax revenues, indicating the
need for an in-depth review of the governance of the public
banks and the funding of public sector activities. Finally,
the paper estimates the impact of shocks to macroeconomic
variables on loan portfolio quality and bank capital. |
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