The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is studying the possibility of offering shares in two state banks in initial public offerings, Governor Tarek Amer told Reuters on Tuesday. Amer said the offerings would not include state bank giants National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr and that CBE may offer a stake in one of its ventures to a strategic investor. He did not elaborate. "We are studying taking a couple of banks to the stock market for capital increases, diluting around 20%," he said. CBE is also considering "offering a stake in one of its ventures to a strategic investor", Amer added. Egypt owns vast swathes of the economy, including three of its largest banks - National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque Du Caire - along with much of its oil industry and huge parts of its real estate. The CBE owns 99% of United Bank of Egypt and about 50% of the Arab African International Bank.   Earlier, the presidency said Egypt plans to list shares in state-owned banks and companies on the stock market, in a move aimed at jump-starting investment and boosting economic growth. "The coming period will witness offerings of parts of the capital of successful Egyptian companies and banks on the bourse," said presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef. The statement follows a meeting between President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and ministers to discuss the stock market's decline. The statement did not specify which banks or sectors would be offered. (Reuters, ahramonline)