The World Bank is expected to provide the third and final $1 billion tranche of its $3 billion budget support to Egypt in December, the bank’s vice president Hafez Ghanem said Wednesday.
Egypt has been negotiating billions of dollars in aid from various lenders to help revive an economy battered by political upheaval since the 2011 revolt and to ease a dollar shortage that has crippled import activity and hampered recovery.
Ghanem made these remarks during a meeting with the 40th Door-Knocking delegation members from the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), which are currently visiting Washington, in the presence of Shantayanan Devarajan, Chief Economist of the bank’s Middle East and North Africa Region.
The World Bank’s vice president further said he would visit Cairo next week to hold a number of meetings with government officials, as part of the bank’s periodic reviews on the country’s economic reform process.
Egypt received earlier in September the first $1 billion of the World Bank’s loan and the second by March, with the funds intended for fiscal consolidation, ensuring energy supply, and enhancing competitiveness in the private sector.
The World Bank finances several projects in Egypt, including projects related to energy, transport, water and wastewater, agriculture and irrigation, population and health, and social safety nets. It also supports employment-intensive projects and finances small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The current portfolio of the World Bank in Egypt includes 26 projects with a total commitment of $5.92 billion, according to the organization’s data.
