CDB provides $600 million loan to National Bank of Egypt for unspecified purposes in 2021

In December 2021, China Development Bank and the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) — a state-owned Egyptian bank — signed a $600 million loan agreement. The purpose of the loan is unknown. However, it is known that the loan carried the following borrowing terms: a 3 year maturity, a 3 year grace period, and an interest rate of 6-month LIBOR plus a 2.15% margin. The borrower is responsible for repaying the entirety of the loan’s principal in a single, lump sum (bullet payment) at maturity (December 2024). It is also responsible for making semi-annual interest payments from June 2022 to December 2024.

Additional details

1. Upon request from AidData, a confidential source with direct knowledge of the transaction has confirmed the loan's face value, commitment date, interest rate, grace period, and final maturity date. 2. The face value, commitment date, interest rate, grace period, and final maturity date of the loan identified in this record is consistent with the data that the Government of Egypt has voluntarily disclosed to the World Bank through the Debtor Reporting System (DRS). 3. AidData has estimated the all-in interest rate (2.456%) by adding 2.15% to average 6-month LIBOR (0.306%) in December 2021. 4. In April 2023, CDB reported that it had made a $300 million loan disbursement to NBE to support 49 small and medium-sized enterprise development and infrastructure construction project. It is unclear if this disbursement was made under the December 2021 loan agreement with CDB or another agreement. This issue warrants further investigation. 5. NBE’s annual financial statements can be accessed via https://www.nbe.com.eg/NBE/E/#/EN/FinancialIndicators.

Number of official sources

7

Number of total sources

10