The CBE said that the bank gives special priority to supporting entrepreneurship as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), said Abulnaga
As part of its financial inclusion efforts, the CBE was one of the first supporters of entrepreneurship, innovation and digitization in Egypt, highlights First Sub-Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) May Abulnaga.
The CBE said that the bank gives special priority to supporting entrepreneurship as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), said Abulnaga.
This is to meet its target of supporting and empowering MSMEs to achieve economic development, along with a commitment to promoting and facilitating access to finance for all social segments.
Abulnaga also noted the cooperation between them, banks, state bodies and institutions, universities, and other relevant external bodies to enable millions of unbanked to participate in the financial system, and benefit from reform and economic development programs.
The Vice Governor’s remarks came during the graduation ceremony of a batch of startups from the Nile Pioneers Academy of the Nile Pioneers Initiative funded by the CBE.
Abulnaga added that to achieve this goal, the CBE is implementing a package of measures and initiatives to enhance financial inclusion in general, and support SMEs in particular.
To this point, she highlighted the CBE’s push towards boosting MSME support by obliging banks in 2016 to increase the portfolio of loans and credit facilities directed to these projects.
This was to ensure that the portfolio reached a percentage of no less than 20 percent of the bank’s total credit facilities portfolio, which was increased in February 2021 to 25 percent.
This came with a stipulation that the percentage directed to micro projects should not be less than 10 percent.
The central bank also facilitated the procedures for granting financing by allowing banks to finance micro and small projects, with a maximum sales volume of less than EGP 20 million, without obtaining approved financial statements.
It was also allowed to add banks’ contributions to the capital of investment funds and companies targeted to invest in the capital of these companies within the prescribed mandatory percentage.
She noted that the CBE also issued a guarantee of EGP 2 billion to the credit risk guarantee company, in return for issuing its guarantees to banks to cover part of the risks associated with financing SMEs.
