Kafalat at end-June

Number of loans drops by 21 percent; value per guarantee rises by 14 percent

July 14, 2011- The number of guarantees issued by the government-subsidized program ‘Kafalat’ fell to 593 for the first half of 2011, a 21 percent drop from 749 in the same period last year.

According to figures released by Kafalat, guarantees fell to $80 million at end-June 2011 from $89 million for the same period in 2010. The average value per guarantee rose to around $136,000 in comparison with $119,000 a year earlier.

The industrial sector remains the main beneficiary of Kafalat loans with a share of 40.6 percent of the total loans issued, followed by the agricultural and tourism sectors with 37 and 18 percent respectively.