One of the biggest state-owned banks in Egypt, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) plans to inaugurate 25 new branches within the second half of 2015, chairman Hisham Okasha announced. On the sideline of signing a protocol on cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity, Okasha stated that NBE has opened around 17 branches providing all banking services for the clients during the first half of current fiscal year. This comes as part of NBE's plan to expand its network of branches to around 200 within 3 years, the banking top official noted. Okasha further added that the bank aims to add additional 500 to its current 1866 ATMs. Moreover, Okasha clarified that NBE intends to increase its portfolio of financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to EGP 12.5 billion, from EGP 12.5 billion recorded by end of June 2014. In addition, NBE targets a growth of 25% to its retail banking portfolio, which hit EGP 26 billion last fiscal year.
