The total balances of credit facilities granted by banks to their clients jumped by EGP 224.7bn over fiscal year (FY) 2015/2016 to record EGP 942.7bn at the end of June 2016, compared to EGP 718bn in June 2015, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
In its monthly report, the CBE said that the private sector alone received 59.8% of the credit facilities during that period.
The industrial sector accounted for 32.2% of the total credit facilities granted by banks to their clients in the period between June 2015 and June 2016. The services sector followed, which includes tourism, and obtained 27.6% of these facilities. Trade came third with 10.6%.
As always, the agriculture sector came last on the list with only 1.4% of total facilities during the 12 months observed by the CBE.
A number of other sectors were not listed in detail in the CBE’s report. Collectively, these sectors—including the household sector—received 28.6% of total facilities.
The head of a bank operating in Egypt said that the country needs more loans granted to different economic services, particularly the industry sector—considering its importance for the national economy.
He explained that the industrial sector is the most important sector that helps increase economic growth, reduce unemployment, and increase employment rates, in addition to lifting the foreign exchange reserves of export earnings.
Moreover, he criticised the size of credit facilities granted by banks to the agriculture sector, stressing that agriculture is a very important sector of the Egyptian economy and highlighting its importance in securing the basic commodities for Egyptians, next to its contribution to the export sector.
