The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is preparing to launch a complete initiative to enhance SMEs, says CBE official. State run Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The Federation of Egyptian Banks (FEB) has put a plan for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to identify major obstacles standing in its way and make recommendations to remove such obstacles, said Tarek Amer FEB Chairman in a conference on Tuesday.
He added that the FEB’s SME unit has presented seven recommendations to the CBE to enhance SMEs. Most notably, issuing specialized regulations for granting credit to SME’s and establishing a fund to guarantee credit risks for such projects.
Amer revealed that the National Bank of Egypt’s total contacts with the Social Fund for Development to fund SMEs amount to LE5 billion. He added that another LE1 billion contacts would be signed in the coming period.
Meanwhile, Mai Abol-Naga of the CBE stated that the CBE is preparing to launch a complete initiative to support SMEs by the end of this year. Aboul-Naga said that the CBE would work on studying the rules associated with credit risk guaranteeing which would in turn enhance SMEs.
The FEB’s plan stressed on the importance of SMEs as a mainstay for economic development. This is attributed to their low investment cost, their ability to create job opportunities and increasing GDP.
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