Egypt’s Commercial International Bank gets $150m loan from EBRD to cushion against economic risks

Commercial International Bank or CIB, one of Egypt’s leading private banks, has signed up for a $150 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to cushion against economic risks, a bourse statement said.

Per the statement, the loan has a maturity of 10 years and will be used to optimize the Bank’s capital structure, boost its growth, and “act as an extra cushion against any potential external economic hindrances.”

Jurgen Rigterink, EBRD’s first vice-president, indicated that the loan will support the expansion of CIB’s lending activity, especially in the green economy. In October and November 2023, the Egyptian biggest private bank saw its credit rating downgraded to B- from B by S&P Global and Fitch Solutions.

The two credit rating agencies downgraded Egypt’s rating from B to B- and labeled the outlook as stable.
CIB, founded in 1975, is Egypt’s leading private sector bank offering a broad range of financial products and services to enterprises of all sizes, institutions, households, and high-net-worth individuals.

It recorded a total assets EGP 635.83 billion (around $20.6 billion) in 2022, up from EGP 498.23 billion in 2021.