Egypt to receive $50m from World Bank to confront COVID-19

The World Bank approved $50 million in financing for Egypt as an emergency response to help the country confront COVID-19, according to a World Bank press release issued on Sunday.

According to the press release on its official website, the funds come as part of the World Bank’s new “Fast Track COVID-19 Facility” in a global effort to help strengthen the COVID-19 response and shorten the time to recover: “Over 15 months, the World Bank Group will be providing up to $160 billion in financing tailored to the health, economic and social shocks countries are facing.”

“The project aims to strengthen the prevention, detection, and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt.”

Egypt will receive this sum based on the Global Fast Track Facility’s criteria of population size, whereby countries with a 20 million population size receive $20 million, and countries with a 50 million population size receive $35 million. Countries with a 100 million population, like Egypt, receive $50 million.

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Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat acknowledged: “The efforts undertaken by the World Bank Group at these unprecedented times.”

“This project supports the preparation and governance of Egypt’s healthcare system. Increased coordinated action to expedite healthcare spending and pave the way for an inclusive post-COVID economic recovery is a national priority,” Al-Mashat added, according to a statement published on the ministry’s official page on Facebook.