By Mustafa Adel
Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt was given $22.5 billion loans and grants over the past period, said Sahar Nasr, the Minister of International Cooperation.
“The ministry’s loan and grant portfolio consists of $11.5 billion received over the last ten months, while the remaining amount was provided earlier”, the minister added.
Out of the $11.5 billon, grants and loans amounted to $3.8 billion and $7.7 billion, respectively.
Moreover, the government seeks a $500 million loan from the African Development Bank, along with the IMF first $1 billion tranche.
Today, the international cooperation and finance ministries have signed a cooperation protocol to back the finance ministry’s public-private partnership in the light of the $2.5 million financial grant offered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
On the signature ceremony’s sidelines, the Minister of Finance Amr EL-Garhy stated that mechanisms for providing $6 million were also discussed with the international cooperation minister.
“This step came as a part of a larger plan to bridge the financing gap”, El Garhy announced, assuring “there no worries over securing the $6 million”.
The country’s financing gap reached $30 billion over three years ending on 30 June 2018.
Meanwhile external debt rose during July-March 2015/16 by 34% year-over-year to $53.4 billion, according to the central bank’s data.
