Egypt’s NBE bank signs $750 mln financing deal with global banks

National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the country’s largest state bank, signed last week a $750 million financing agreement with a consortium of international banks, its correspondent banking and treasury head told Amwal Al Ghad.

The consortium included the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), HSBC, Citibank, Standard Chartered, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Emirates NBD, Bank ABC, National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah (RAKBANK), and Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), said Ghada El Bialy.

“It will go for financing small and medium-sized as well as giant projects in Egypt,” El Bialy said.

Foreign currency liquidity for Egyptian banks has improved since the central bank allowed the Egyptian pound to free float in November 2016, resulting in the currency losing half of its value against the U.S. dollar.

Egyptian banks now have access to foreign currency liquidity through the interbank market, as opposed to through central bank auctions, which was the case before the currency’s floatation.

But banks still need to boost their foreign currency liquidity to face requirements accrued during the shortages before the floatation.