President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's proposed initiative for donating spare change has been suspended, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Wednesday. The total donations to the Long Live Egypt Fund (Tahya Masr) amount to LE7.5 billion. In cooperation with the Social Solidarity Ministry and Nasser Social Bank, the Fund focuses on providing loans for microprojects that empower women and create job opportunities for young people, said Executive Director of the Fund Mohamed Ashmawy. The interest rate on these loans has not been settled, but will be lower than that of the prevailing market interest rates, ranging between 27 and 30 percent, he said. Nasser Social Bank is a government bank, affiliated to the Social Solidarity Ministry.

Source: Egypt Independent March 29, 2017 09:22 UTC