According to Kafalat, the number of loan guarantees rose from 361 by July 2015 to 421 guarantees in July 2016. The overall value of the guarantees witnessed an increase of 15.67% to reach $58.47M by July 2016 compared to a value of $50.55M by July 2015.
In the first 7 months of the year, Agriculture, industry and tourism sectors were the top three beneficiaries of Kafalat guarantees, with respective shares of 47.27%, 28.5%, and 19%. The tourism sector witnessed the most change from last year’s value, where the number of loan guarantees increased from 39 by July 2015 to 80 by July 2016. This rise in value can be linked to the recovering tourism sector in Lebanon, as the number of tourists observed a growth of 7.70% y-o-y in H1 to reach 723,105.
The number of guarantees granted for the agricultural sector rose from 172 by July 2015 to 199 by July 2016, while loan guarantees for the industrial sector slightly dropped from 123 to 120.
Geographically, 42.28% of the guarantees were granted in Mount Lebanon, followed by 23.99% disbursed in the Bekaa and 12.83% in the North. The number of guarantees reached 178, 101, and 54 in Mount Lebanon, Bekaa and the North, respectively.
Value of Kafalat Guarantees by July (in $M)
Source: Kafalat