Al Baraka Bank Egypt, part of Bahrain's Al Baraka Group (ABG), is planning to pump one billion Egyptian pounds (US$127.7 million) to support Egyptian SMEs, its chairman Ashraf El-Ghamrawy said Sunday. The investments, with a five percent interest rate, are in favour of the central bank's initiative to advocate small and medium-sized enterprises. Earlier, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said last January the banking sector would inject 200 billion Egyptian pounds ($25 billion) to support small and medium businesses. "I have assigned the central bank to make the most of the banking sector to implement a comprehensive programme to support small and medium businesses," Sisi said, adding that loans for small and medium businesses over the next four years will not be less than 20 percent of all loans issued. Meanwhile, El-Ghamrawy told Amwal Al Ghad that SMEs are the catalyst for development, to overcome several crises, notably the unemployment. Within this year, Al Baraka Bank Egypt plans to sign a new partnership worth 200 million pounds with the Social Fund for Development (SFD) to finance small and medium businesses led by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the banking official stated.
