About 2% of finances offered by the Fund to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are not yet collected, while the total value of SMEs portfolio at SFD registered EGP 4 billion at the end of the first quarter this year, said Essam El-Korashy, head of SMEs development at Social Fund for Development.
On the sidelines of the Arab Banking Forum convened under the slogan of “SMEs: The Arab Economic Strategic Choice”, El-Korashy added that SFD targets increasing SMEs portfolio by a value ranging from EGP 700 million to EGP one billion by the end of 2012.
Micro-finances portfolio registered EGP 400 million at the end of the first quarter, and the Fund targets raising it to EGP 700 million by the end of 2012, EL-Korashy said.
SFD increased finances this year by 250%, registering the highest level since 20 years, despite the current deteriorated economy and political unrest.
EL-Korashy added that SFD financed 18 thousand SMEs and 65 thousand micro-enterprises in 2011, thanks to many Egyptian banks such as National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr and Banque Du Caire who expanded in financing this sector.