Tarek Amer, chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Banks, said the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) demands impracticable guarantees to lend Egypt US$ 600 million needed to finance the budget deficit and a number of developmental projects. On the sidelines of the EU-Egypt Task Force Business and Tourism Summit, Amer called on the European Union to adopt easier lending policy with Egypt. Given the strategic mutual relationships between both parties, the EBRD has to levy easier conditions on Egypt than the China Development Bank (CDB) does, he noted. Anna Katie, representative of EBRD, commented that there is a big difference in lending policies of EBRD and CDB as the latter adopts high-level risk policy, while the former does not, especially amid the euro zone debt crisis and the fluctuations witnessed by European economies.
