A senior banking official said that some public banks, namely National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Du Caire and Banque Misr, have withdrawn the sale of their 15% savings certificates they had launched two months ago to attract foreign currencies. The certificates were denominated in EGP and offered a 15% return. The three state-owned banks have begun offering these certificates in mid-March 2016. At the time, the banks said that the certificates will be offered for a limited period of two months, subject to renewal. According to the source, the three banks agreed last week to stop selling these certificates, especially as they did not achieve their objective. The source added that the proceeds from selling the certificates did not meet their expectations, and the banks will have to pay higher interest rates. The minimum purchase price of these certificates was EGP1,000 and its multiples. The interest is calculated on a quarterly basis. NBE sold EGP1.5bn (USD169mn) worth of these certificates, according to the bank’s deputy Chairman Yehia Aboul Fotouh. (Reuters, The Daily News Egypt)