Egypt Forms Multi-Donor Platform to Help Boost Economy

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) — Egypt has formed a multi-donor platform to help boost the North African nation’s economy, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al Mashat said.

The program “includes electricity, transportation, the health sector,” Al Mashatsaid in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday. The platform received help and support “through the sovereign, but also through the private sector, through credit lines, through Egyptian banks that are availed through the EBRD and the EIB,” she said.

Egypt secured $2.8 billion in funding from the International Monetary Fund last month and raised a further $5 billion from bond markets. Last week, the country made a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a $5.2 billion, one-year stand-by arrangement aimed at helping alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus. An official told Bloomberg last month that authorities are seeking an additional $4 billion from other sources.

Al Mashat also said:
– Small and medium enterprises will be the engine of growth going forward
– Financing agreements from several partners have been secured and Egypt is in “the final stages of finalizing it”
– Government has taken important steps “when it comes to structural reforms related to widening the social safety net, mitigating the impact on informal employment, creating also women-specific policies related to COVID”
– The plan moving forward is “to not just rebuild the economy, but really reshape it”

Source: Bloomberg Business News