Egypt in talks with WB for 3rd loan tranche

CAIRO – 21 April 2017: Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Minister of Housing and Urban Development Mostafa Madbouly met with Hafez Ghanem, World Bank (WB) vice president for MENA, Thursday, to negotiate getting a third tranche of a $3-billion loan.

The $1-billion tranche will contribute to the support of the government's economic and social agenda.

Cairo received the first tranche of the loan in September 2016 and the second tranche in March 2017.

World Bank’s contribution to boost micro finance in Egypt was discussed as well, this will allow in more investments, encourage entrepreneurship culture and provide job opportunities for women and youths.

For his part, Ghanem commended Egypt for its government’s interest in carrying out economic reforms and magnifying the interests and gains of these reforms to different society segments.

The meeting also discussed results of the agreement between President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi with President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, on boosting and developing cooperation between the two sides on various scales and aiding Egypt’s efforts to attract more foreign investments.

Nasr confirmed that the ministry is supporting a project to develop education in coordination with the Ministry of Education.

She also pointed out that the ministry collaborates with the private sector in pumping further investments to develop Upper Egypt; not to mention working along with Ministries of Commerce, Industry and Local Development in the Upper Egypt Development Project, which the World Bank allocated $500 million for.

Ghanem also said he is optimistic about the current economic reforms in Egypt and their impacts. He expects the growth rate to reach 4 percent throughout 2017, in addition to a growth in foreign exchange reserves as well.

The WB MENA Vice President said Egypt has the bank’s support, especially in pumping new investments in the infrastructure sector and developing education.