Egypt’s Sisi approves $0.67bn Chinese loan

Egypt President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi approved a framework agreement signed between the his government and China on the provision of a soft loan for Cairo worth 4.6 billion yuan ($0.67 billion) to finance an electric railway project.

The Official Gazette said the loan will be used by the Ministry of Transport to implement the 10th of Ramadan electric railway project which would link the country’s new industrial cities located in the outskirts of the capital Cairo together.

According to the agreement, the Chinese government will pay the loan directly through the Export-Import Bank of China.

The loan’s main provisions include a maturity period of 20 years, including the loan availability period, a grace period and repayment period provided that the grace period does not exceed five years.

The Ministry of Transport will be responsible for the repayment of the loan, while the Finance Ministry will be its guarantor.

On 28 April, Minister of Housing Assem Al-Jazar announced that the first installment of the Chinese loan – worth $834 million – will cover the cost of setting up seven high-rise towers, as well as the designing and establishment of the Central Business District, in the New Administrative Capital.

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