Post-Covid: Moroccan CIH bank gets €40 Mln EBRD loan to support local businesses

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved on Tuesday a €40 million loan package to Moroccan bank “Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier” to enable it enhance the resilience of local trade and businesses affected by covid-19 pandemic.

Under the agreement sealed by the two parties, the EBRD will provide a €20 million loan to CIH as medium-term financing to private SMEs, increasing the availability of funding beyond the Greater Casablanca-Rabat region, where 70 pc of the Moroccan economy is concentrated.

This funding will contribute to the quick recovery of the local economy, as well as strengthen its resilience in the medium and long term, said the European financial institution, which will provide another €20 million trade finance line to help facilitate the export and import transactions of Moroccan businesses.

Last month, EBRD announced a $100 million loan to Moroccan “Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) to help SMEs affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Morocco is a founding member of the EBRD and became a country of operations in 2012. To date, the EBRD has invested €2.4 billion in Morocco through 65 projects