CBE approves including SMEs in LE 100B initiative

CAIRO - 18 June 2020: The Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) board of directors approved a decision to include newly-established small and medium-sized businesses that are affiliated with major entities into the LE 100 billion initiative aimed at supporting the industrial and agriculture private sector and the real estate sector, with an 8 percent decreasing interest rate.

In a statement released on Thursday, the CBE said the move is meant to help these businesses survive and achieve growth, through decreasing the borrowing cost on them, especially in light of the economic repercussions of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The decision comes within the framework of the CBE's keenness to expand the base of beneficiaries from its initiatives to support different economic sectors, the statement added.

In December 2019, the CBE launched an LE 100 billion initiative to back the industrial sector allowing it to obtain loans at a decreasing interest rate of 8 percent.

The CBE then began to engage more sectors, including the agriculture and construction ones, as beneficiaries and adjusted the interest rate to 8 percent in order to help them face up to the negative economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis.