Blom Bank Egypt was said to impose high interest rates at the time when most banks stopped offering loans, said Mohamed Ozalp, CEO and Managing Director of the bank. Demand for loans sharply fell after last year's revolution which means that customers are the one who stop asking for loansn he explained. None of the banks in Egypt declined to offer loans at anytime. At the time of economic unrest, many banks supported their customers by restructuring their bad debts. The Egyptian banking sector has proven to be consistent in crises. Blom Bank Egypt is not focusing on imposing short-term interest rates. The Egyptian pound may be devalued by 25%, but that will not raise inflation or increase the prices, he confirmed. Egypt's credit rating was lowered but not largely because the political and economic scene became more stable in Egypt. The level of interest rates does not reflect the level of risks. Sahar El Damaty, chief risk officer at HSBC Bank Egypt, said there are risks related to the market and others related to the capabilities. Concerning small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the bank considers the risks of the work and the challenges facing these projects and tries to solve them. There are international risks such as not merging in the economy and money-laundering cases. The smaller the company is, the more challenges it faces, he noted. The large companies know the rules and how to solve the difficulties as they have good governance and transparency, he explained.
