The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) injected about EGP 4bn into the tourism sector following the 25 January Revolution in 2011.
The NBE has invested a total of EGP 13bn in the tourism sector and the bank has continued to support these investment despite poor conditions in the industry, according to Executive Board Member Yehia Aboul Fotouh.
Aboul Fotouh commented on the tourism sector at the signing of an agreement between the NBE and Banque Misr to finance a real estate company’s tourism project.
Aboul Fotouh said that the tourism sector is of great importance as it is one of the state’s sources of hard currency.
The NBE’s board of directors decided earlier to postpone payment on the EGP 1.2bn in debts owed by the tourism sector until the end of June 2016. Postponing the debt was part of the facilities and incentives adopted by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for the tourism sector after it was affected by the downing of a Russian commercial jet in October, according to Aboul Fotouh.
The CBE initiative aims to support the tourism sector by postponing the outstanding loan premiums of workers in the sector and to finance the renovation and maintenance of tourism facilities.
