The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Al Baraka Bank of Egypt and Arab African International Bank (AAIB) will turn down the offer presented by Ayoub Adly Ayoub to settle the bad debts of Rami Lakah, chairman of the Holding Company for Financial Investment (Lakah Group), as a lump sum in return for some real estate assets, sources said. The real estate and tourism sectors are the most affected sectors by the turmoil that followed 2011's revolution; therefore, banks are wary of settling debts in return for real estate or tourism sectors as they will face difficulty in liquidating them in the current period, sources elaborated. Ayoub presented a new debt settlement scheme offering NBE some units at Stella Heliopolis and Stella Heights North Coast in exchange for writing-off Lakah's debt which is EGP 230 million. NBE approved Ayoub's request to pay the fourth installment which is worth EGP 12 million in this April because of the recession that hit the real estate and tourism sectors. NBE signed three years ago an agreement on behalf of AAIB and Al Baraka Bank of Egypt to settle the bad debt of Lakah which is worth EGP 260 million; of which US$ 9 million are paid and EGP 50.4 million are installed on annual payments.
