Egypt: Several banks to increase their loan offerings, provide non-traditional financing

Egypt: Several banks to increase their loan offerings, provide non-traditional financing

Minister of Local Development Hisham Amna said Saturday that he agreed with the banks participating in the national programme “Mashrouak” (Your Project) to increase their loan offerings, provide non-traditional financing services, and form joint marketing task forces.

The banks were Banque Misr, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque du Caire, Bank of Alexandria, Housing and Development Bank (HDB), and Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE).

The Ministry also agreed with the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) to provide the necessary technical support to project owners, train employees and workers in “Mashrouak” and develop their skills. The Ministry arranged with the Industrial Development Authority to facilitate issuing licences and industrial records.

According to Amna, since its inception until July 2023, the “Mashrouak” programme has implemented about 206,200 projects nationwide with EGP 26.8bn worth of loans, providing about 1.6 million jobs.

The programme is a step within the framework of the Central Bank’s initiative to encourage small, medium and micro enterprises, and provide loans at a 5% interest rate.

Amna said that the region of the governorates of Upper Egypt ranks first since the start of “Mashrouak” until last July, as about 104,000 projects were financed with a total of EGP 14bn in loans,