Egyptian banks to forgive interest on certain loans

The Central Bank of Egypt is willing to overlook the interest on some customers' loans to recover principal that otherwise might not be repaid.
A man withdraws money from an ATM machine outside of a bank in Cairo, August 27, 2012. Demand for the Egyptian central bank's repurchasing agreement (repo) facility has fallen back after shooting up in June, indicating that short-term pressure on the banking system may be easing as more money flows into the country. The government introduced the facility in March last year to boost liquidity in Egypt's turbulent financial markets a month after President Hosni Mubarak resigned in the wake of a popular uprisi
A man withdraws money from an ATM machine outside of a bank, Cairo, Egypt, Aug. 27, 2012. - REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih
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Hagar Hosny
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CAIRO — The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has launched an initiative to help some struggling companies and individuals repay their loans and regain their credit standing, which in turn will help banks resolve nonperforming loans.

The initiative covers companies whose nonperforming loans don't exceed 10 million pounds (around $558,500), as well as individuals' loans, excluding credit card balances. Participating customers who repay 100% of their loan principal by the end of this year will be exempted from all accrued and unpaid interest — an amount totaling 16.8 billion Egyptian pounds ($938 million as of July 10).

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