CBE: Banks’ Finance Portfolios for MSMEs Grow 362% in 6 Years

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced that banks' finance portfolios for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) grew by 362% in six years.

CBE added the growth rates of financial inclusion for youth (age group from 16 to 35 years) reached about 48.5% during the period from 2020 to 2023, reaching 18.8 million young people out of a total of 36.6 million youth, with a rate of up to 51.5%.

The Central Bank stated - in a report on the main indicators of financial inclusion for the year 2023 - that the percentage of citizens (in the age group 16 years and over) who own accounts that enable them to carry out financial transactions - whether in banks / Egyptian Post / mobile phone wallets / prepaid cards, jumped to about 70.7% of a total of 66.4 million citizens.

In terms of women’s financial inclusion, indicators showed a surge in the number of women who own financial accounts, reaching 20.3 million women in December 2023 out of a total of 32.3 million women, with a growth rate of 244% compared to 2016, bringing the financial inclusion rate to 62.7%.

Moreover, the total number of women who own mobile phone wallets reached 4.5 million women, compared to about 10.1 million males, while the number of women who own prepaid cards reached about 6 million women, compared to 9.8 million males, and the number of females who own bank and postal accounts reached about 20.1 million woman compared to 24.7 million males.