European Investment Bank approves €1.9 billion loan for Egypt’s transport, SME sectors

European Investment Bank approves €1.9 billion loan for Egypt’s transport, SME sectors

The European Investment Bank's (EIB) board has approved an outline finance worth €1.9 billion for Egypt to finance projects in transport and to support the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector amid the COVID-19 crisis, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat announced on Sunday.

The loan provides €1.1 billion for the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) to implement three projects and allocates €800 million for the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to back SME projects in countering the impact of COVID-19, according to Al-Mashat.

The minister added that the new loans came as a result of the EIB's mission visit in February, headed by EU Neighbouring Countries at EIB Flavia Palanza.

For the €1.1 billion loan, Al-Mashat clarified that it supports the vital Egyptian transport sector, which contributes 4.6 percent to Egypt's GDP and provides about 6.2 percent of job opportunities in domestic market.

She added that the railways serve 500 million passengers annually on average, adding that the current project portfolio in the Egyptian transport sector records $5 billion, covering 30 projects financed by the EIB, the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in addition to Japan, China, Korea and France.

For his part,