The total loans granted by the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to finance limited and middle-income housing included in the Central Bank of Egypt’s initiative reached EGP 3.6bn at the end of June 2018.
This funding has been granted to 37,800 customers. The average rate in May and June reached 2,500 housing units with a total cost of EGP 250m each month.
This comes within the framework of the bank’s support for the state’s direction towards providing all means of facilitation for low-income citizens, and within its plan to expand and invest in the system of real estate finance and social housing.
The NBE has established three independent units for real estate financing in the 6th of October and 10th of Ramadan cities, as well as the industrial zone in Minya.
According to Yehia Aboul Fotouh, deputy chairperson of the bank, the NBE is now studying 10,409 files worth EGP 1.1bn. The bank also plans to increase the volume of the portfolio to EGP 4.7bn.
He added that 34 branches in 23 governorates have been designated to deal with the social housing project, and the bank established three departments in the headquarters to speed up the process. These departments are credit, operations, and legal affairs.
Hesham Okasha, chairperson of the board of directors of the bank, said that the NBE is putting mortgage finance activity, especially targeting low-income groups, among its priorities.
He explained that the bank is always keen to support the mortgage finance portfolio through an integrated system, through which it will study the neediest groups and design their own financing programmes to suit their abilities and meet their needs, which enabled the bank to obtain first place in the mortgage finance system at the end of May 2018, for the seventh time in a row.
