Yehia Aboul Fotouh, deputy chairperson of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), and Nagy Abdel Ghaffar, chairperson of Assiut Oil Refining Company (ASORC), signed a financing contract worth $100m for the purpose of implementing service and facility projects necessary for the development of the company’s plants and the fulfilment of its expansion goals.
According to Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla, this project is a positive leap in the strategy of the Egyptian oil sector to contribute to the development of the Upper Egypt region to reach the stage of self-sufficiency by 2023.
The chairperson of the National Bank of Egypt, Hisham Okasha, said that funding this project proves the bank’s partnerships in supporting major national projects, both directly and indirectly, especially in the oil sector. He added that the project is in line with the state’s plan to modernise Egyptian refineries, given their importance to reducing imports and easing the pressure on the state’s foreign exchange reserves.
For his part, Aboul Fotouh stressed that the NBE will continue to support the Egyptian oil sector by providing all credit facilities.
On the other hand, Sherif Riyad, head of the credit sector at the NBE, said that this project will result in creating 750 permanent jobs and some 10,000 temporary jobs in Upper Egypt.
