Cairo – Mubasher: Investment loans granted to farmers and agriculture projects in Egypt reached EGP 14.2 billion in fiscal year 2017/2018, rising by 47.2% year-on-year from EGP 9.6 billion, according to a statement issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

The number of agriculture cooperative societies fell by 0.1% to 5,801 in FY17/18 from 5,809 in FY16/17, the CAPMAS added.

Shot-term loans grew by 36.2% to EGP 7.7 billion in FY17/18, compared to EGP 5.6 billion in the prior fiscal year.

In addition, medium-term loans amounted to EGP 6.2 billion in FY17/18, increasing by 76.5% year-on-year from EGP 3.5 billion.

The growth in short-term and medium-term loans was ascribed to the increase in livestock loans and multi-purpose deposit-secured loans.

On the other hand, long-term loans plunged by 45.5% year-on-year to EGP 243.2 million in FY17/18 from EGP 446.3 million, pressured by the drop in youth loans and consumer loans.