NBE aims to increase size of SME portfolio to EGP 100bn within 3 years

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Monday - 1 January 2018

(MENAFN - Daily News Egypt) The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) targets increasing the size of its loans portfolio for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to EGP 100bn within the next three years, according to Saad Mohy El-Din of the bank€™s SME financing department.

Mohy El-Din pointed out that the size of the NBE€™s direct and indirect financing portfolio has offered SME loans worth about EGP 37.5bn to 55,000 customers.

He noted that the bank takes into account the special nature of such projects, as it offers loans through easy and simple procedures to ensure the high quality of its services and speed up credit decision-making at the bank€™s branches nationwide.

Mohy El-Din added that the NBE€™s support of SMEs comes in the framework of its belief in the importance of this segment of projects and their positive effect on the Egyptian economy.

The NBE previously established a specialised sector to provide all banking services to SMEs, whether financing or non-financing services.

This new sector includes about 1,050 employees working in all the bank€™s branches across the country. They have enough experience to assess projects€™ needs and provide the appropriate banking services.

In a previous statement, Hazem Hegazy, head of retail banking at the NBE, said that the bank aims to finance industrial projects in the current period.

He revealed that industrial projects accounted for 28% of the allocated funding for SMEs in 2017, compared to 14% in 2016.

Hegazy added that 75-80% of the bank€™s SME loans portfolio was directed to productive sectors, whether industrial or agricultural, because these projects increase the added-value to the Egyptian economy, and provide job opportunities for young people.