As of Tuesday, at least 5 banks operating in Egypt have imposed new restrictions on cash withdrawals and spending abroad, with monthly FX transactions within Egypt limited to as low as $65.

Following similar limitations applied by CIB and the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) last week, Al Baraka Bank Egypt and EG Bank announced new restrictions on foreign currency transactions on Tuesday through their respective websites.

Al Baraka Bank and EG Bank have both decided to suspend international credit card withdrawals as Egypt continues to move through an FX shortage.

On monthly international purchasing limits while abroad, EG Bank revealed a new limit of EGP 3k ($97) while Al Baraka Bank has restricted it to EGP 7,750 ($250).

FABMisr has also reduced its monthly international limits to between $300 to $2.5k, according to Enterprise, citing a customer service representative. Withdrawal limits for all cards abroad will remain at $100 and local FX transactions at $250.

On Thursday, CIB sent customers an SMS revealing new FX restrictions, including limiting FX transactions while in Egypt between EGP 2k ($65) to 7,75k or equivalent, according to the type of account, and shrinking international purchasing limits to between EGP 15k ($485) and 75k.

The Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank restricted foreign currency transactions within Egypt to around $50, with monthly limits while traveling was cut to $500-2k or equivalent.  

The Egyptian pound remains officially stable at around EGP 30.9 against the USD, while the pound is trading at around EGP 56 against the USD in the black market.