Egyptian banks are facing severe difficulty in obtaining loans from foreign banks due to the high interest rates required by these banks, according to bankers. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has asked banks to source FX financing abroad in order to face the current FX shortage in the country. Zeinab Hashem, CEO of ADIB Capital, the investment arm of ADIB Egypt, said the bank is making significant efforts to attract FX funds from abroad, but it is facing difficulty as foreign banks, to which the Egyptian banks resort to obtain FX loans, require high returns of 5.5%. This is a high return compared to the return on USD investment in the global capital markets. Deputy Chairman of National Bank of Egypt (NBE) Yehia Abu El-Fotouh stated previously that the bank delayed international bonds offerings for the same reason: the high interest rates global investors required in exchange for their investment. The USD return in global capital markets is c.1%, while the Egyptian government granted a return of 3.5% for USD T-bills with a 1-year maturity in an auction last February 2016. (The Daily News Egypt)