Banque Misr is negotiating with one of the international banking institutions in order to obtain a new dollar loan to enhance its liquidity of foreign currency, according to Mohamed Eletreby, Banque Misr's chairperson. Eletreby refused to disclose the details of this loan until the negotiation phase is over and the loan is signed. Banque Misr will be signing a loan agreement for $500 million with the Chinese Development Bank (CDB) on the sidelines of the bank's participation in the events of the . This loan will be used to finance the importing from China for companies working in the Egyptian market. Eletreby has also revealed that Banque Misr has injected EGP 1.4bn into "Mashrouak" (Your Project) to finance 26,000 customers, in cooperation with the Ministry of Local Development. Several other banks are part of the project as well, including the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Du Caire, the Housing and Development Bank (HDB), and the Egyptian Agricultural Bank (EAB). Eletreby noted that the total portfolio of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the bank has reached EGP 4bn. In response to the questions about the bank's stance from financing the furniture city in Damietta, Eletreby explained that the bank is actually considering injecting about one billion Egyptian pounds to finance part of the investment costs of the project, in addition to financing buyers of shops in the city within the initiative to support SMEs, with a five percent interest rate. Eletreby stressed that the bank's main focus in the financing it provides is industrial and agricultural projects, stressing that the state's economy can only improve with the support of those two pillars. Eletreby pointed out that the bank has prepared a strong expansion plan abroad, noting that it has opened a representative office in China and is working to obtain necessary licensing for a similar office in Russia. Necessary approvals are also being obtained to open offices in Kenya, Korea, and Somalia. Eletreby revealed that the bank is launching a financial leasing company through shareholding with the Tahya Misr fund, the Misr Insurance Holding Company, and the Misr Financial Holding Company. Source: Daily news
