The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has extended the current exemption of domestic EGP transfers from commission and fees until 15 September.

The exemption is one of a number of measures implemented by the bank in March in light of the coronavirus.

The CBE said in a statement on Sunday that the extension aims at curtailing the use of cash, in a bid to contain the pandemic’s negative impacts on individuals’ health and the country’s economy.

The CBE has instructed all banks to support their infrastructure and to allow customers’ requests to be fulfilled on the same day, in a move to encourage them to use the services and reduce the dependency on cash.

The ban on transfer fees was implemented in March, alongside a number of other measures aiming to reduce crowding at banks and use of cash.

The central bank raised the daily transaction limits on credit cards and cancelled fees and commissions applied at points of sale and on withdrawals from ATMs for six months.

The bank also decreed that proceeds on clients’ debts during the six-month suspension period would be set according to the remainder of the facility, not the total value, and instructed banks not to ask clients to repay the suspended proceeds, with the first installment to be collected after the suspension period ends.