Egypt's state-run biggest banks, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) starts talks with two Gulf funds over US$250 million financing to go for SMEs projects in the country. According to Soha Soliman – Head of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) at the Egyptian bank, NBE is seeking to obtain US$200 million from a Saudi fund in addition to another US$50 million from a Kuwaiti fund. Soliman further told Amwal Al Ghad that the bank had entered an initial agreement with the Saudi-based fund, obtaining US$10 million as a first tranche. In the meantime, NBE is still in its negotiations with the Kuwaiti-based fund, she noted. NBE had previously obtained a financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) totalling US$50 million, distributed as US$30 million in support of small-sized projects and US$20 million for funding projects run by Egyptian women.
