MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB to Loan $517m to Banque Misr of Egypt to Fund SMEs During COVID-19 Pandemic

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s long-term lending institution, recently agreed to provide a line of credit in the amount of EUR 425 million (USD 517 million) to Banque Misr, a government-owned bank in Egypt. This money is slated to help mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), defined in this case as those employing 10 to 249 people.

Flavia Palanza, the director for neighboring countries at EIB, said of the deal, “Our new credit line comes at a time when SMEs need strong support to overcome the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic…SMEs are most vulnerable to the impact of this global crisis.”

Approximately 20 percent of Banque Misr’s portfolio is deployed in the SME sector. In 2020, it launched its “Express” loan product, which accepts digital loan applications from businesses with annual sales between EGP 1 million (USD 64,000) and EGP 50 million (USD 3.2 million) that have a track record of at least 12 months.

Banque Misr, established in 1920, operates approximately 700 branches across Egypt. The bank serves 12 million customers with total assets of EGP 967 billion (USD 61.8 billion), customer deposits of EGP 746 billion (USD 47.7 billion) and a gross loan portfolio of EGP 278 billion (USD 17.8 billion).

Founded in 1958, EIB is “focused on innovation, SMEs, infrastructure and climate,” primarily in EU member states and potential future member states. During 2019, the institution disbursed EUR 48 billion (USD 57 billion), about 90 percent of which it deployed within the EU.

By Bradley Shulman, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

EIB press release
https://www.eib.org/en/press/all/2020-409-team-europe-eib-and-banque-misr-work-together-to-support-private-businesses-and-speed-up-the-recovery-of-smes-from-covid-19-in-egypt

Banque Misr homepage
https://www.banquemisr.com

Banque Misr Annual Sustainability Report 2018/2019
https://www.banquemisr.com/en/aboutus/Documents/Annual%20Reports/ANNUAL%20REPORT%202018-2019.pdf

EIB homepage
https://www.eib.org

More news on EIB from MicroCapital
https://www.microcapital.org/?s=EIB

More news on Banque Misr from MicroCapital
https://www.microcapital.org/?s=banque+misr

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