Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Gamal Negm said on Thursday the bank has dealt with Covid-19 pandemic crisis rapidly, with advance steps and in a methodical and planned manner.
The measure aims at achieving balance among financial stability, validity of the banking system and the sustainability of economic activities, added Negm in remarks to the 2021 Forum of Heads of Risk Departments in Arab Banks, held by the Union of Arab Banks in Hurghada town under the auspices of the CBE.
He said that Egypt averted a full closure during novel Covid-19 pandemic, which, he added, positively affect the wheel of national economy and the non-deterioration of quality of assets in the banking sector.
The CBE launched several initiatives and took immediate measures to curb the negative impacts of the pandemic, Negm mentioned.
The forum, in its third session, constitutes an annual platform to keep pace with the developments in the banking industry, which are directly reflected in the risk departments of Arab banks, especially in light of the repercussions of COVID-19 that had emerged in beginning of 2020 and affected the economies all over the world.
The central banks in most countries have taken many measures with the aim of preserving the stability of financial systems and preventing the occurrence of new financial or economic crises, reducing the downturn in the real economy and ensuring the provision of credit to various sectors in these exceptional circumstances.
During banks pursuit of digitalization and developing their business models, the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the importance of accelerating the delivery of digital banking services and products, which played an effective role in limiting the repercussions of this crisis and facilitating customers’ access to financial services under lockdowns and sharp fluctuations in cash flows of many economic activities.
Nevertheless, in light of these developments, banks face many opportunities and challenges in managing their changing risks arising from economic, environmental, and social fluctuations.
This necessitated banks to develop their risk management methods and tools to confront the repercussions of the pandemic, benefit from digital technology applications, and enhance their ability to manage risks arising from the development of business models and products, as well as keep pace with the new changes proposed by Basel Committee in light of the repercussions of the pandemic.
Hence, the importance of the forum is the result of shedding light on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emerging markets and the role of central banks in the economic recovery plans.
The forum also addresses the current and future priorities of the Basel Committee and the amendments it has made to its framework in light of the pandemic.
It also reviews modern methodologies for managing banking risks in the digital age and artificial intelligence applications in order to identify the most important opportunities and challenges facing the banking industry, while shedding light on the most important developments resulting from the pandemic when designing stress test scenarios.
Source: State Information Service Egypt