CBE directs banks to provide facilitated loans to Egypt’s farmer cooperatives

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has instructed commercial banks to begin extending facilitated loans to Egypt’s farmers, according to a note picked up by Al Mal. This came after the CBE granted farmers access who have formed cooperatives or associations aimed at adopting modern farming practices access to its low-interest SME financing initiative. The news followed an announcement last January that the CBE has excluded retail-focused SMEs from the initiative to reroute funding toward the service, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.