Bank credit to the private sector fell as a share to GDP during the last decade, in spite of a successful bank recapitalization in the middle of the 2000s and high and stable growth before the recent macroeconomic turmoil. This paper explains this trend based on both bank supply factors and demand for credit from the private sector. First the paper describes the evolution of the banks’ sources and uses of funds in the period 2005-2011, characterized by two different cycles of external capital flows. Then it estimates supply and demand equations of credit to the private sector, using quarterly data for the period 1999-2011. First, the system of simultaneous equations is estimated assuming continuous market clearing. Then the system is estimated allowing for transitory disequilibrium. In general, the main results are robust to the market clearing assumption. Our main findings show that, while real industrial production and the stock market have a significant impact on credit demand, deposits and claims on government affected the supply of credit in Egypt. Finally, both models yield similar results for the most recent period of private credit contraction: the single most important factor explaining the largest share of the decline is the expansion of banking credit to the public sector. The slowdown in economic activity and the contraction of bank deposits explain the remainder of the predicted contraction in bank credit to the private sector.