Banks operating in the Egyptian market have contributed EGP 700m to support daily labourers, according to Mohamed El-Etreby, President of the Federation of Egyptian Banks (FEB) and Chairperson of Banque Misr.
In exclusive statement to Daily News Egypt, El-Etreby said that the donations have been given to a fund devoted to this matter.
In early April, the FEB launched an initiative in cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to support those most affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Under the initiative, bank contributions were divided into four segments according to the profits they achieved in 2019. El-Etreby indicated that banks with profits of EGP 5bn or more donated EGP 80m, whilst banks that achieved profits of EGP 3bn to EGP 5bn donated EGP 40m. Banks that made profits of EGP 1bn to EGP 3bn donated EGP 20m, and banks that made profits less than EGP 1bn donated EGP 10m.
He pointed out that the initiative is designed to support those most severely affected by the coronavirus and its implications on the Egyptian economy. This is also a continuation of the federation’s efforts in corporate social responsibility.
El-Etreby pointed out that the initiative was set up in cooperation with state agencies, the CBE and Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala Al-Said. Financial institutions, companies, businesspeople, and NGOs, have also coordinated and undertaken efforts as part of the initiative.
The initiative aims to maximise the benefit of these efforts, whilst ensuring that the aid provided reaches its beneficiaries.
In the same context, El-Etreby revealed that Banque Misr’s corporate social responsibility efforts have seen the bank contribute EGP 1.5bn during fiscal year (FY) 2019/2020.
