Circular dated February 23, 2016 amending the initiative to support the tourism sector

Cairo, February 23, 2016

Dear Chairman of the Board,

Greetings,

With reference to the initiative to support the tourism sector issued on March 13, 2013, and its subsequent circulars regarding foreign currency, given the importance of the tourism sector as a pillar of the economy and a source of revenue, a series of meetings were held with sector representatives to discuss its challenges. It became evident that there is a necessity to unify the approach to restructuring the debts of the tourism sector and to coordinate between banks and beneficiaries of the initiative. Therefore, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt, in its session held on February 17, 2016, decided to amend the provisions of the initiative as follows:

1. The possibility of deferring all outstanding installments (for long-term and/or short-term facilities and/or capitalization of facility yields on the principal, without calculating late fees on the current debit), as well as deferred installments for a maximum period of 3 years, with the following observed in all cases:

   a. Regular facilities shall not be considered irregular in bank records during this period since the date of the initiative.

   b. Existing provisions shall not be affected, with each bank having the freedom to form necessary provisions and set aside yields for a period exceeding 3 months during this period.

2. The validity period of the initiative is one year from its date, during which any requests for deferring bank installments for a maximum period of 3 years will be accepted.

3. Confirmation that the limits mentioned in the initiative are advisory limits, through which banks study each case individually and make the appropriate decision regarding it.

4. The continuation of the validity of the remaining conditions of the instructions as they are, without modification, in matters not addressed by a specific provision.

Please accept our highest respect.