SMEs hit 17,000 with total finances of LE 19B in 2017: CBE

CAIRO – 12 September 2017: The volume of the new small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that was established in 2017 reached 17,000 with total finances of LE 19 billion ($1.1 billion), the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Tarek Amer said Tuesday.

In a press conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Amer noted that there is a plan to raise the loan-to-deposit (LTD) ratio to 60-65 percent, up from 40-45 percent.

The governor highlighted that the volume of banks’ clients reached 32 percent or 17 million citizens that are entitled to vote, of about 54 million.

Egypt has achieved financial and monetary stability through economic reforms implemented lately, including the flotation of the Egyptian pound in November, which succeeded in adding around LE 200 billion new deposits to the local markets.

Amer said that the number of subscribers in mobile banking transactions hit around 9 million.

The CBE has joined the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) in 2013 and is organizing on Wednesday the international conference for the financial inclusion, which is considered the biggest globally and is held for the first time in the region.

The governor pointed to the important measures taken by the National Council for Payments for the growth of the electronic payments and supporting the SMEs.

Egyptians sold $30 billion since the Egyptian pound flotation in November till today, Amer said, adding that the United Bank of Egypt is being restructured to be offered in the government initial public offering (IPO) program.

Amer pinpointed that the banks’ law is currently being studied by the board of the CBE.