Banks will continue to support businesses at risk of default for another six months: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has extended until 30 June two debt relief initiatives launched in late 2019 and early last year to waive marginal interest on debt owed by distressed companies and tourism businesses, it said in a circular (pdf) to commercial banks. The initiative requires banks to remove the names of financially-distressed companies from the CBE and i-Score’s blacklist and lifts restrictions on their assets, as well as call off any legal action they had taken against companies with bad loans.

Who’s eligible: Corporate clients with debt of less than EGP 10 mn who pay down part of their debt and tourism firms with debt of over EGP 10 mn who settle over 50% of their original debt.

The extension comes as the covid-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on many businesses, the CBE said. The central bank last week also extended a similar debt relief initiative it launched in March for retail bank clients.