By: Ahmad Abu el-Hamd
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has disbursed the second $500-million tranche of a $1.5 million loan package to Egypt, the bank’s representative in Cairo told Reuters on Thursday.
Leila Mokaddem said that the disbursal came into effect on Thursday, with the funds due to be received early next week.
In December 2016, Egypt’s international cooperation minister Sahar Nasr signed a deal for the second tranche of the $1.5 billion loan, which is to be delivered over in three tranches over three years to boost the country’s budget.
According to the ministry, the loan is intended to support government programmes that aim to achieve social and economic development by creating new jobs and improving the business environment.
Egypt has been negotiating billions of dollars in aid from various lenders to help revive its economy, which has been battered by political and economic upheaval since a 2011 uprising.
The country’s foreign reserves stood at $26.541 billion by the end of February 2017.
