The Industry Ministry launched the first phase of a new EGP 30 bn financing initiative offering reduced 15% interest rates to seven priority industrial sectors, according to a ministry statement. The initiative will target pharma, food, engineering, chemicals, textiles, mining, and building materials private sector projects and cover machinery, equipment, and production lines at the discounted rate for five years.

ICYMI- The government last year suspended a EGP 120 bn program for industrial and agricultural players that it had approved in March after the initiative ran into difficulties and reportedly benefitted only a few industrial players. The news yesterday follows an announcement by the ministry in August that the state would resume its plans to offer the subsidized loans.

You’d be hard pressed to find better rates. Although four percentage points higher than the last batch of cut-rate finance for industry and agriculture, the 15% interest rate charged in the initiative is nearly half the central bank's post-float 28.25% lending rate.

Some projects will get an even more favorable rate, with an additional 2% cut for projects that boost local added value or introduce new industrial activities that could replace imports.

The hospitality sector is also getting a push from government-subsidized loans, after the state launched a EGP 50 bn program in October offering subsidized loans to tourism players at a 12% interest rate.

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