By: Islam Fadl

Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s recently-launched EGP 100 billion initiative targets private-sector industrial companies with annual sales between EGP 50 million and EGP 1 billion, the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) deputy governor Gamal Negm said.

The initiative aims to finance industrial businesses with loans at a declining interest rate of 10%, he added. 

Factories with annual sales of less than EGP 50 million will be able to benefit from the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) initiative, he remarked.

The funding will not be used to repay outstanding debts owed by companies.

In case of default, the bank will adjust the interest rate, he added, noting that loans are subsidised by the government with an interest rate of 4.75%.

The industrial sector contributes 16.4% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and about 4.5-5% to the annual growth rate, he remarked.

Six months after injecting funding under the initiative, the industrial sector is expected to contribute 24.5% to GDP and 7.5% to the annual growth rate, with plans to reach the state’s target of 15% by 2030.

The Egyptian government aims to increase its exports to EGP 200 billion by 2030, Negm revealed, adding the total funding to the industrial sector reached EGP 440 billion.