The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has decided to broaden the base of beneficiaries of its EGP 100 bn industry stimulus initiative to include the contracting sector, Invest-Gate reports.

The move was put in place to counter the negative financial impacts of the Coronavirus as well as its impact on economic activities, the CBE announced in an official statement on May 13.

The initiative had initially been set up to extend soft loans at a declining rate of 8% through banks to the industrial, agricultural, and now contracting businesses. Yet, a turnover of at least EGP 50 mn per year is a must for qualification, the statement added.

Including the contracting sector in the initiative has been seen as necessary, as it is one of the main drivers for many industrial and service sectors in the Egyptian market, not to mention securing a large segment of Egypt’s labor force.

In its monthly meeting on May 14, the CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agreed to keep overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the main operation unchanged at 9.25%, 10.25%, and 9.75%. Besides, the discount rate remains fixed at 9.75%, according to a separate press release.