Back to Home Page What kind of financial support can the EPF provide? The EPF is capable of providing financial support using a number of different mechanisms: Grants   Grants are offered to support the projects of governmental agencies, NGOs, universities and research centers in condition that the projects are applicable and not researches. Soft Loans   Is the Fund’s mechanism to support environmental projects that are financially viable and sustainable allowing the project holder to recover both investment and operating costs. Financial support is provided in accordance with defined guidelines and conditions enumerated in the Support Program.

The grants deal will be received through withdrawn checks from the Fund’s account at the Egyptian Central Bank.

One of the Fund's objectives is to stimulate other sources to participate in the financing of environmental investments. This objective is both strategic and practical. On a strategic level, to fulfill its role as an evolving, transitional financing instrument, the Fund must foster the development of other sources and mechanisms of environmental finance so as to better establish the 'Polluter Pays' Principle as a norm and to contribute to the longer-term goal of sustainable development. On a more immediate, practical level, given the Fund's limited resources it needs to leverage additional funds to meet its annual investment objectives.
The Fund's current financing policies and mechanisms are designed to leverage the involvement of other financing sources. As a general rule the Fund will not finance 100 percent of project costs; applicants must therefore secure co-finance from other sources, including their own funds. In providing interest rate subsidies, the Fund is purposely encouraging applicants to seek and obtain finance from other sources, typically commercial banks or other lending institutions. Hence, interest rate subsidies directly contribute to the engagement of capital markets in the financing of environmental investments. In this way, the Fund hopes to increase the involvement of the private sector and its financial resources, in the field of environmental protection.
In the case of interest rate subsidies, the EPF collaborates with banks that offer loans for environmental investment projects. The terms and conditions of this collaboration are specified in detailed agreements between the Fund and the bank. The collaborating bank will evaluate the project application to determine the creditworthiness of the project holder in accordance with the agreement with the Fund. In the event the bank approves the loan for the selected project, the Fund will cover the interest rate subsidy on the loan in accordance with conditions agreed upon with the participating bank.
For projects that have already obtained the bank's approval for a loan and the Fund's approval of the project, the Fund will transfer funds to the lending bank in accordance to loan conditions.
The EPF signed several agreements with the largest banks in Egypt to enhance this relationship with banks. This will support projects selected by the Fund for the interest rate subsidy program. In addition, the bank will draw the Fund's attention to other environmental projects that have applied for loans.

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