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EGYPT:
Egypt’s national postal authority Egypt Post has announced an extension
of the tender period for submission of technical and financial tender
offers for the design of its new product, an Islamic postal savings
passbook, to the 3rd August 2014. The winner of the tender
will be announced within three months after the closing date,
necessitating a delay in the launch of the Shariah compliant savings
scheme until the beginning of 2015.
Egypt
Post’s intention to launch the new product was voiced by Ashraf Gamal
El Din, the authority’s chairman in June, with the aim that the new
Islamic postal savings passbook would attract new customers and
increase revenues, with the total value of saving passbooks predicted
to increase to EGP2 billion (US$278.97 million) from the current EGP129
million (US$17.99 million) with the introduction of a Shariah compliant
savings plan. The Islamic savings passbook is just one of a number of
Shariah compliant products that the National Postal Authority plans to
introduce, with a wider investor spread identified by El Din: "We
are considering targeting two segments of clients. The new savings
passbook will target clients who are looking for quick returns, and
other Shariah compliant instruments will cater to big investors who are
looking for long-term investments."
The
introduction of new Shariah compliant products by the National Postal
Authority could indicate a softening in the attitude of Egypt’s
institutions towards Islamic finance, following the move away in the
wake of the deposition of the Morsi administration. Despite a total of
14 Shariah compliant institutions, Islamic banking in Egypt holds only
7% of the total market. However, in recent months the country has seen
Islamic financing in the headlines, including the senior financing facility
of EGP1.5 billion (US$213.5 million) extended to sugar trading house,
Al Nouran Multitrading, by 13 banks, including Banque Misr, Bank Audi
and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. Additional funding was also provided by the
Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD),
which last month signed an MoU with the Saudi-Egyptian Business
Council, to promote cross border Islamic investments.
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