Kafalat loans down

Loans extended to small and medium size enterprises under the guarantee of Kafalat during the first nine months fell by 13 percent on a yearly basis. These loans totaled $109 million at end-September.

The number of issued guarantees fell by 17 percent y-o-y, to 800. The average loan size rose by six percent to $136,000.

Projects in Mount Lebanon had 40 percent of guarantees, followed by those in the South (21 percent), Bekaa (16 percent), and the North (14.6 percent). Beirut had the least share of 6.5 percent.

Most of the guarantees were given to projects in industry (38 percent) and agriculture (37 percent). Projects in the tourism sector had 19 percent of the guarantees.