Banks to double SMEs financing volume in 2017

Banks granted financing worth EGP 17bn for small, micro, and medium enterprises from January until September 2016

Banks operating in the local market aim to double the size of their financing portfolio of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2017, within the framework of their commitment to implement the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) initiative to support these projects and to increase the size of the portfolio to 20% of their total loans portfolio of 2019.
According to the latest figures issued by the CBE, banks granted funds worth EGP 17bn to micro businesses and SMEs from January to September 2016.
Lobna Helal, deputy governor of the CBE, said that those funds came in the framework of the CBE's initiatives to boost the economy and eliminate unemployment, pointing to the increased number of facilities that now reach 15,000.
The total loans portfolio granted by the National Bank of Egypt to micro enterprises and SMEs amounted to more than EGP 27bn. They were granted to about 51,000 projects until late October 2016, compared to EGP 6bn in June 2011 and EGP 18bn in June 2015.
The bank aims to reach a portfolio size of EGP 72bn to finance such projects over the next four years.
The volume of loans granted by Banque Misr to micro businesses and SMEs amounted to EGP 3.8bn. The loans were granted to 419,000 customers and the volume of the SMEs portfolio granted to 1,403 customers reached EGP 1.5bn.
In Banque du Caire, the portfolio of these projects amounted to about EGP 3bn and the bank granted more than 1.5m loans to the owners of micro enterprises, valued at about EGP 11bn. The bank aims to double the financing during the coming period.
In the Housing and Development Bank, the size of the SMEs portfolio amounted to about EGP 1.357bn by late September, equivalent to about 10% of the total loans portfolio of the bank. The bank set a plan to increase that percentage to 20% over four years, as set by the CBE's initiative.
Audi Bank Egypt aims to increase the size of the portfolio of SMEs to EGP 6bn in four years, compared to about EGP 1bn currently.
Emirates NBD-Egypt targets to increase the size of loans of its SMEs portfolio to 10% of the total loans portfolio of the bank by the end of 2017, and to 20% by the end of 2019, after its announcement in November 2016 that it will establish a specialised unit to finance these projects.
The Arab Investment Bank granted EGP 2bn to finance these projects during 2017, bringing the size of the portfolio from EGP 3.5bn to EGP 5.5bn by the end of the year. The bank aims to increase its portfolio that finances such projects to 45% of the total loans portfolio of the bank.