The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) is currently arranging two loans worth EGP 20bn for projects in the electricity sector and other infrastructure projects, according to NBE deputy chairperson Mahmoud Montasser.
Montasser told Daily News Egypt on the sidelines of the Euromoney conference on Monday that the completion of the two loans will take at least two months.
He explained that the first loan is worth EGP 10bn and is being arranged for a power project in the electricity sector. The second loan is worth the same value and is arranged for a project in the field of infrastructure.
Montasser refused to disclose the details of the loans at the moment.
Negotiations are ongoing with a large number of banks to participate in the two loans, according to Montasser.
On the other hand, Montasser said that the NBE aims to increase the size of loans portfolio to about EGP 20bn during the current fiscal year (FY) 2016-2017, noting that currently the loans portfolio reaches about EGP 230bn.
He expected that NBE will issue US dollar bonds worth $600m in global markets in October.
He also added that the return of those bonds is determined by the circumstances of the global financial markets at the time of the IPO. However, Montasser emphasised that Egypt’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will have a positive impact on reducing the cost of those bonds.
