The World Bank has approved a $360 million loan to Egypt to support its economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The World Bank added in a press statement that the loan aims to promote Egypt’s sustainable and comprehensive development, adding that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is looking at giving a loan of equal value to Egypt.
The Egyptian minister of planning Rania Al-Mashat said that the loan will help Egypt implement several steps towards reform. Mashat added that the WB’s decision came within a joint developmental fund from WB and AIIB to Egypt to support it in the second wave of its economic structural reform. According to data released by the WB last month, Egypt’s foreign debt rose by 14.3 per cent on an annual basis hitting $131.6 billion in 2020 compared to $115.1 billion in 2019. In parallel, direct foreign investment regressed by 35 per cent in 2020 recording $5.9 billion compared to $9 billion in 2019 recording the lowest figure since 2014.
