Interest Rate Spreads & Efficiency in the Egyptian Banking Market

This book investigates the efficiency of financial intermediation in the Egyptian banking market by determining the variables affecting the behavior of the interest-rate spread in Egypt for the period 1984-2007. It determines the factors behind the relative inefficiency in the intermediation process in Egypt as reflected in the wide interest rate spread. The analysis focuses on the private sector banks that include three types of banks: commercial banks (PSCB), business and investment banks (BIB), and branches of foreign banks (BFB). Panel data of the banks is used to formally investigate which bank-specific, industry and macroeconomic characteristics are the main drivers for the persistently high interest rate spreads observed in the Egyptian market during the period under study. The study applied two approaches in estimating this model: a static approach and a dynamic one. It highlights the policy measures that can help to improve the financial intermediation process in Egypt.