Egyptian banks face further pressure from Coronavirus fallout

Egyptian banks face further pressure from Coronavirus fallout

Fitch Ratings-London/Dubai: Egyptian banks face asset-quality deterioration and continued pressure on profitability through 2021 amid the economic fallout of the pandemic, Fitch Ratings says in a new report. Capitalisation remains a credit weakness and foreign-currency liquidity is still vulnerable to external shocks. However, the sector could benefit from growth and revenue opportunities, with Egypt's lockdowns less stringent than those in many jurisdictions, and consumer consumption and public investment more resilient.The sector average Stage 3 loans ratio was stable at 3.4% at end-3Q20, supported by the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) significant interest rate cuts to boost lending, a six-month deferral of loan repayments and flexibility on how banks classify loans. However, we believe these measures have delayed rather than prevented asset-quality deterioration.We expect the sector average Stage 3 loans ratio to increase to about 4% by end-2021. However, the key indicators of asset-quality pressures are likely to be a higher level of restructured exposures and migration of Stage 1 loans to Stage 2. Ratios of Stage 2 loans vary significantly among banks, largely due to some banks more proactively front-loading their provisions by classifying performing loans as Stage 2 despite forbearance measures. We expect continued pressure on operating profitability due to lower