ABSTRACT
The circumstances which led to the formation of the present National Bank of Egypt remain to be explored. It has always enjoyed a privileged position in consequence of its monopoly of note-issue and its close association with the Government. The creation of the National Bank was the outcome of a deliberate policy, the objects of which have already been discussed. “The establishment of a National Bank in 1898 enabled a further experiment to be made under circumstances which were more favourable to success. The authorities, and especially Lord Cromer, emphasised the obvious fact that the National Bank could not be reasonably expected to extend its operations without augmenting its capital, while maintaining the status of a trading bank. The really big task of the National Bank in bolstering up an incredible credit structure was its behaviour in the crisis of the late summer and early autumn of 1914.
