The Deputy Chairman of the Industrial Development and Workers Bank of Egypt (IDBE) Hamdi Azzam said that the bank seeks to achieve growth in all sectors by about 30% during the current year, explaining that the total bad debt portfolio of the bank amounted to EGP 1.1bn at the end of 2016, noting that the bank aims to settle 30 % of the debts, equivalent to around EGP 330m to reduce the debt portfolio to EGP 770m by the end of 2017.

Azzam pointed out that the bank aims to pump loans for gas supply in the various provinces worth EGP 400m, adding that the total funds that have been pumped for this reason amounted to EGP 60m to about 2,000 units, of which 40,000 units located in Fayoum and others in Beheira and Cairo.

He added that the bank doubled the deposits portfolio to EGP 4.2bn at the end of December 2016, as the bank has achieved a growth of almost 35% in the credit portfolio of about EGP 5bn.

The bank seeks this year to complete the infrastructure of its headquarters, and update various technological systems, explaining that the IDBE is the fifth-largest financing bank of small and medium enterprises.

The banks works on supporting the industrial sector because of the bank's special character between Egyptian banks, because of the most important priority in the work is the industrial production sector to support a trend that the government and the central bank, so it will be the first focus has to be to the bank a greater role in supporting the industrial sector.

Azzam explained that the bank achieved a growth rate by 55% in a portfolio of small and medium enterprises through 2016, compared to EGP 145m in 2011, and is targeted to reach EGP 2bn in 2017.

He also added that the bank is considering the provision of facilities at about 250 million pounds, within the central bank's initiative to support the small and medium enterprises, at rates of interest of 5%, 7%, indicating that the bank is currently focusing on the provision of facilities as part of this initiative, and received the industrial development on the third place in the financing of micro-enterprises, ranking fifth in the mortgage, by the Central Bank of Egypt.

Azzam said that his bank recently completed a strategy to expand into the retail banking sector during the current year 2017 and revealed strategic items that target the growth in the portfolio sector, estimated at EGP 500m, equivalent to about 42% during the current fiscal year.

He pointed out that the plan is based on two main axes, the first is to expand mortgage loans either within or outside the initiative, the second is to pump new loans to deliver natural gas to homes.

He added that most of the funds that have been pumped into the mortgage were directed to low-income people, stressing that there is a great intention to expand in financing middle-income during the year.