Banque Misr, Egypt's second largest bank, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed on Sunday a credit facility agreement worth €500 million to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The deal comes as part of Banque Misr's move to diversify its funding channels to be used in financing SMEs, the bank said in a statement. The three-year credit facility is expected to contribute to boosting the bank's foreign exchange sources. The deal is the second of its kind to be inked between the two banks in support of SMEs. Banque Misr's SMEs portfolio was estimated at 26 billion pounds last September, with an average growth rate of 120 percent in four years since the activation of a Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) initiative aimed at financing SMEs. Source: MENA
