NBE grants credit for 1,558 housing units so far – official

The National Bank of Egypt, the oldest commercial lender in the country, has granted credit for a total of 1,588 housing units by end of July this year, NBE’s retail risk group head said Wednesday.

Those units fall under the central bank’s social housing initiative to support low-middle income class.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) launched mortgage initiative worth 10 billion Egyptian pounds in April 2014 for real estate financing involving funding housing for low-middle income classes at concessional terms over a period of 20 years. The money will be sent to banks, in the form of deposits, over a period of 20 years at low interest rates. Low-income citizens who qualify to benefit from the programme will be lent the money at yearly interest rate of 7% to 8%.

According to Karim Soos – NBE’s retail risk group head – the bank has provided credit facilities worth 120,4 million Egyptian pounds (US$ 15,4 million) for the 1,588  units.