Egypt to borrow $3 billion from World Bank

Egypt intends to borrow $3 billion from the World Bank to support the general budget, the country’s finance minister announced on Wednesday.

“The government is open to all options to finance the budget and fill the funding gap in any way, but in the appropriate time and amount,” Hany Kadry Dimian told reporters at an economic conference aired live on state television.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail announced earlier this week that Egypt is low on dollars and aims to collect $4 billion before the year end by taking out a loan worth $1.5 billion from the World Bank and the African Development Bank. He added that Egypt would also offer land for sale to Egyptians abroad, expected to bring in about $2.5 billion.

Egypt’s foreign exchange reserve has been deteriorating due to foreign debts. The Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Hisham Ramez, said earlier that 2015 has been the most difficult year for financial policy because of the country’s obligations. These include the servicing of external debt and the payment of $6 billion for Qatari deposits, of which $500 million has been paid this month.

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Egypt’s external debt rises to $48.1bn by June