Egypt plans to renew $2B agreement with international banks

CAIRO- 18 October 2017: Egypt plans to renew a two-billion-dollar agreement with international banks for an extra year to maintain Egypt's foreign reserves, Finance Minister Amr el Garhy said.

During a meeting with a number of investors in New York city on Tuesday, Garhy said the original two-billion-dollar repurchase agreement was signed in November 2016.

"Currently, Egypt is carrying out an economic reform program in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund following a wave of political and economic turmoil, which hit the country since 2011," he said.

Meanwhile, Garhy praised efforts exerted by the Central Bank of Egypt to support the interest rate, a measure which lured foreign investors to pump more investments into the Egyptian market.

Egypt desires to issue three-billion-dollar bonds at the beginning of 2018 in addition to euro-denominated bonds worth one billion euros, he added.

Garhy further denied the government's desire to increase the Value Added Tax rate from the current 14 percent.