Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Egypt Receives $500 mln in 2nd Tranche of African Development Bank Loan
Ahram Online
Monday 19 Dec 2016

The World Bank will hold a meeting Tuesday to approve second $1 bln tranche of $3 bln loan to support Egypt's budget

Egypt received on Monday the second tranche, worth USD 500 million, of a $1.5 billion loan package from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation (MoIC) announced.

In a statement on the ministry's website, minister Sahar Nasr also said the World Bank would hold a meeting on Tuesday to approve the second $1 billion tranche of its $3 billion loan to Egypt, which is set to be delivered over three years to support the country's budget.

According to the MoIC, the AfDB loan is intended to support government programmes that aim to achieve social and economic development by creating new jobs and improving the business environment.

Nasr signed the first $500 million tranche of the AfDB loan in December 2015. That loan is also scheduled to be delivered over three years.

Leila El-Mokadem, the AfDB’s representative in Egypt, confirmed that the bank aims to continue its partnership with Egypt in 2017 to deliver the 3rd and final tranche of the fund, also worth $500, the statement said.

The World Bank provided the first $1 billion to Egypt in September. The second tranche is expected to arrive in January, and the final one later in 2017.

On 11 November, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) confirmed its receipt of an initial $2.75 billion from the International Monetary Fund following the board’s approval of a $12 billion loan to support Cairo's ongoing economic reforms.

Egypt's economy has been struggling since 2011 due to a sharp drop in tourism and foreign investment, two main sources of hard currency for the import-dependent country.

The country's foreign reserves stood at $23 billion by the end of November.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/253427.aspx


World Bank board approves release of $1 bln loan tranche to Egypt

Ahram Online
Tuesday 20 Dec 2016

The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved on Tuesday the release of the second $1 billion tranche of the $3 billion loan package to support Egypt’s economic reform programme, according to a statement on the international cooperation ministry’s website.

“The WB's approval is regarded as a certification of trust for the state's economic reforms programme, especially after the reception of the African Development Bank's second tranche of the $1.5 billion three-year finance programme,” Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said in the statement.

In 2014, Egypt embarked on a plan to introduce a number of fiscal reforms, including fuel subsidy cuts that increased prices up to 78 percent, as well as imposing new taxes to ease a growing budget deficit that is currently estimated at 12.2 percent of the GDP.

Egypt received the first tranche of the loan, worth $1 billion, in September.

“We are pleased to continue supporting the country’s ambitious programme of reforms with a strong focus on job creation and boosting the competitiveness of Egyptian businesses,” said Asad Alam, WB country director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti.

The current portfolio of the World Bank in Egypt includes 25 projects for a total commitment of about $8.5 billion.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/253513.aspx

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