On Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved two new loans, despite objections from members to the government’s borrowing policy.

It approved a $373 million loan between the Egyptian government and the Arab Monetary Fund to deal with the repercussions of the pandemic. It also approved a loan between Egypt and France, amounting to 776 million and 900,000 euros, to finance the supply of 55 trains and the renewal of metro warehouses. “We are facing a terrible disaster,” said Ahmed Farghal, a member of the Economic Affairs Committee. “The parliament approved 80 billion pounds in loans in just two months, which represents 8.5% of the state’s expected revenue next year.” He demanded that the prime minister be summoned to clarify how the government would repay those loans.

A member of the Plan and Budget Committee, Mohamed Badrawi, explained that “the Ministry of Finance does not consider the loans of economic bodies as part of borrowing in the general budget because each body borrows as if it were an independent entity. “These loans are a burden on the state because economic bodies borrow with a guarantee from the state’s public treasury, which means that the Ministry of Finance is obligated to intervene and pay off any loan they cannot repay”.