World Bank supports Egypt’s economic reform programme
Newspaper Title: www.esi-africa.com
Newspaper Number:
Thursday - 7 December 2017
The World Bank’s board of executive directors has approved $1.15 billion in a development policy financing loan to support Egypt’s economic reform programme.
This loan is the last in the series of three annual loans — the Fiscal Consolidation, Sustainable Energy, and Competitiveness Development Policy Financing loans, worth a total of $3.15 billion. These loans were provided over 2015 to 2017.
This loan support’s Egypt’s home-grown inclusive reforms aimed to power job creation, ensure energy security, strengthen public finances, and enhance business competitiveness, especially for micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
Dr. Sahar Nasr, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation said: “We welcome the World Bank’s continuous support to the transformational economic reform agenda of the government. This programme supports Egypt’s programme to help improve its attractiveness for private investment, creating jobs especially for youth and women.”
Dr. Asad Alam, World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti, also commented: “Egypt has shown sustained commitment to implementing inclusive reforms. We are privileged to support the country on its path to achieving its full potential and improving living standards for all Egyptians.”
World Bank partners
In providing this financing, the World Bank has collaborated closely with development partners.
The African Development Bank is preparing its parallel financing of $500 million while the United Kingdom has provided an additional $150 million guarantee to expand the loan amount to $1.15 billion.
“The United Kingdom is proud to join the World Bank in this strategic support to the Egyptian Government in building an economy that works for all Egyptian men and women,’’ said John Casson, UK Ambassador to Egypt.
The World Bank Task Team Leaders, Ashish Khanna and Ibrahim Chowdhury, emphasised that Egypt now provides an international benchmark for comprehensive reforms in its policies to maximise finance for development, notably through mobilising $17 billion of private investment in the energy sector.
