Egypt to get $3 bln in funding from World Bank

The World Bank will provide Egypt with $3 billion in support now that the North African nation has secured an expanded International Monetary Fund program, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said Sunday.

Egypt also expects the European Union to announce its support package soon, Maait said, outlining more details of the aid that could flow in after last week’s decision by the central bank to float the currency after a record 600 basis point rate hike.


The currency float, which resulted in a 38 percent plunge in the pound’s value against the dollar, was a key catalyst for the IMF’s decision to agree to boost the $3 billion loan program it had approved in 2022, to $8 billion.

Also at play was Egypt’s securing of a $35 billion investment deal with the United Arab Emirates — funding seen as key to alleviating the crippling foreign currency shortage with which the country grappled for the past few years.

Maait said that the IMF would release the first tranche of funding under the new program after its board approves the revised program.