The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced that the public banks, including the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, and Banque du Caire, will provide 750m riyals to cover tourism companies' needs for the pilgrimage (Hajj) programmes this year. It came during a meeting between the chairpersons of the three public banks with the head of the Chamber of Tourism Companies, the head of the chamber's Religious Tourism Committee, and leaders of the Ministry of Tourism. The CBE said in a statement that the banks reached an agreement to provide the companies with their needs of riyals as long as the pilgrims pay for their flights only in Egyptian pounds, based on certain mechanisms designed by the Chamber of Tourism. The statement added that the three public banks would provide 3,000 riyals for each pilgrim, on condition that they provide their visa and flight tickets. Eman Samy, head of the Religious Tourism Committee at the Chamber of Tourism Companies, said that the CBE will announce soon the funds allocated for tourism companies during the Hajj season through the Ministry of Tourism. The three public banks will provide the required foreign currency for the tourism companies and a maximum of 3,000 riyals for each pilgrim, she added. There are 108,000 Egyptians scheduled to perform the Hajj this season through the lottery, associations, and tourism companies. EgyptAir said it would allocate 63,000 seats for pilgrims on its flights to Saudi Arabia starting 9 August.
