A banking consortium has raised its offer to finance the monorail project by 1.3 billion Egyptian pounds, a source with knowledge of the matter told Amwal Al Ghad Monday.
The source further said the consortium has submitted a new offer worth 6.6 billion pounds (US$822.2 million) for the state-run New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) to fund the $1.5 billion monorail project in Cairo. NUCA is set to pay the loan back over 14 years.
He noted that the devaluation of the Egyptian pound is expected to increase the value of funding again.
The consortium encompasses ten banks: National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr (BM), Commercial International Bank (CIB), QNB Al Ahli, HSBC, Arab African International Bank (AAIB), Bank Audi, Crédit Agricole, and Arab Bank.
The source expected the consortium to finish signing loan’s contracts and start disbursing the loan within the first quarter of 2016.
In May 2015, housing minister has announced that an Egyptian-Canadian consortium has been chosen to carry out the project.
The consortium includes Canadian Bombardier Inc., World’s largest manufacturer of both planes and trains, in addition to Egypt-based Arab Contractors Company and Orascom Construction (OC).
The 52 kilometer (32 mile) project, linking 6th of October City with Giza and Cairo governorates, is set to be completed by mid-2018.
