Kafalat issued 40 guarantees in the 1st month of the year with a total value of $5.13M, lower than the 70 guarantees worth $10.66M that were issued during the same month in 2014. Therefore, the average value per loan shrank from $150,093 in January 2014 to $128,373 in 2015.
Agriculture remained the primary sector to benefit from Kafalat guarantees with a share of 47.50%, followed by industry (32.50%), tourism (7.50%) and crafts (7.50%). The guarantees of the agriculture, industry and tourism sectors decreased by 17 guarantees 11 guarantees, and 5 guarantees to 19, 13 and 3 guarantees, respectively. Meanwhile guarantees for the crafts sector added 2 guarantees to 3.
As for the regional breakdown, Mount Lebanon continued to grasp the majority of guarantees, with a 47.50% share, followed by respective shares of 20% for the South and 11.50% for each the Bekaa and the Nabatieh regions. The guarantees issued in Mount Lebanon, South and Bekaa dropped to 19, 8, and 5 from a previous of 26, 9 and 19 guarantees. Nabatieh was the only region to experience an increase of 1 guarantee, to 5 guarantees.