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World Bank affirms confidence in 'Egypt’s economic reform measures'

January 23, 2019 at 4:22 am

World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva (L) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Vienna on 18 December 2018 [HANS PUNZ/AFP/Getty Images]

The World Bank is “confident” in Egypt’s economic reform measures, the bank’s CEO Kristalina Georgieva, announced yesterday, Reuters reports.

“The World Bank is keen on continuing to support and assist Egypt during the implementation of the nation-wide economic and social reform programme, and to help the Egyptian government attract inward foreign investments,” Georgieva said during her meeting with the Egyptian investment and international cooperation minister, Sahar Nasr.

During the meeting, the two officials discussed WB’s support to Egypt in a number of priority sectors, including the development of the country’s Sinai Peninsula, infrastructure projects, transport and agriculture.

READ: Egypt postpones $6.6bn repayment to Saudi Arabia

Last month, WB said in a report that Egypt had begun to “reap” the benefits of what it described as “the country’s transformative economic reform programme.” The bank added that it was expecting “Egypt’s public debt to decline for the first time in a decade.”

The international bank called on the Egyptian government “to allow private investments in infrastructure and to invest in education, health care, and social protection sectors.”

WB has been providing Egypt with the technical and financial support to help reduce poverty and promote prosperity. The bank’s support focuses on social safety, energy, transportation, rural water and sanitation, irrigation, social housing, health care, job creation, and funding Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

WB’s portfolio of investments in Egypt currently consists of 16 projects with total lending commitments of $6.69 billion.