Egypt Central Bank Approves Instant Payment Regulations

Central Bank of Egypt's headquarters is seen amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in downtown Cairo, Egypt February 25, 2021. (Reuters)
Central Bank of Egypt's headquarters is seen amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in downtown Cairo, Egypt February 25, 2021. (Reuters)
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Egypt Central Bank Approves Instant Payment Regulations

Central Bank of Egypt's headquarters is seen amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in downtown Cairo, Egypt February 25, 2021. (Reuters)
Central Bank of Egypt's headquarters is seen amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in downtown Cairo, Egypt February 25, 2021. (Reuters)

Egypt's central bank has approved regulations designed to allow people to make instant electronic payments between bank accounts using their mobile phones, it said in a statement on Monday.

A new network, to be launched by the end of the year, would also allow customers to manage all their bank accounts and complete transfers with any bank through a single application, the statement said.

"Customers will be able through the new network to complete transfers within a few seconds, on weekdays and during official holidays using various electronic payment tools issued by Egyptian banks," central bank deputy governor Rami Aboul Naga said in the statement.

Egypt over the last two years has introduced a series of new legislation and regulatory changes designed to unleash fintech investments and change the way the country's largely unbanked citizens do business.



Exports from Libya's Hariga Oil Port Stop as Crude Supply Dries Up, Say Engineers

A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
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Exports from Libya's Hariga Oil Port Stop as Crude Supply Dries Up, Say Engineers

A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of an oil terminal in Zueitina, west of Benghazi April 7, 2014. (Reuters)

The Libyan oil export port of Hariga has stopped operating due to insufficient crude supplies, two engineers at the terminal told Reuters on Saturday, as a standoff between rival political factions shuts most of the country's oilfields.

This week's flare-up in a dispute over control of the central bank threatens a new bout of instability in the North African country, a major oil producer that is split between eastern and western factions.

The eastern-based administration, which controls oilfields that account for almost all the country's production, are demanding western authorities back down over the replacement of the central bank governor - a key position in a state where control over oil revenue is the biggest prize for all factions.

Exports from Hariga stopped following the near-total shutdown of the Sarir oilfield, the port's main supplier, the engineers said.

Sarir normally produces about 209,000 barrels per day (bpd). Libya pumped about 1.18 million bpd in July in total.

Libya's National Oil Corporation NOC, which controls the country's oil resources, said on Friday the recent oilfield closures have caused the loss of approximately 63% of total oil production.