Egypt’s parliament approved a governmental deal with the World Bank to receive a $400 million loan in order to finance the first phase of the new universal medical insurance system in Egypt.

The universal medial insurance is a system launched by the Egyptian government in 2018 to replace partial medical insurance systems and at-the-state’s-expense treatment decisions. In 2019, the system was applied in phases with Port Said the first governorate for the application.

 The new loan brought back concerns over the growth through loans strategy followed by the current Egyptian government, which raised the foreign debt sharply at $129.195 billion, according to Central Bank data in April 2021.