In November 2016, Sisi launched the National Council for Payments (NCP), which he chairs himself, in an aim to lead Egypt toward a cashless economy.In February 2017, Sisi issued a decree establishing the council and delineating the scope of its responsibilities. The council aims to reduce the use of banknotes outside the banking system, motivating electronic payments and modernizing the national payments systems.Speaking at the opening of the Financial Inclusion Forum held in Sharm El-Sheikh in September 2017, President Sisi asserted the importance of financial inclusion as one of Egypt’s main targets. “We have seen the establishment of the NCP, but it has not taken any serious steps until now. .This begs the question about our will to achieve financial inclusion and make significant progress in this regard,” he argues.Tawfik stresses that financial inclusion requires high expenditure from the CBE on infrastructure in order for it to reach every individual and business owner nationwide. However, thanks to adopting various initiatives and programs along with measures to encourage account penetration, the figure jumped to 33 percent among Egyptian adults, the CBE’s Deputy Governor Tarek el-Kholy said in his speech at the Financial Inclusion Forum held in September last year.

Source: Egypt Today September 27, 2018 05:26 UTC