Egypt Receives First Tranche of $3 Billion World Bank Loan

(Bloomberg) -- Egypt received the first $1 billion tranche of a three-year, $3 billion loan from the World Bank to fund government plans to boost growth.

The money will be used to “create jobs and improve citizens’ living standards,” Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. The government is already working on finalizing the second tranche from the World Bank, as well as from the African Development Bank, the minister said.

Egypt is also working to secure a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, part of an overall $21 billion target over three years to fund measures to restore investor confidence and revive an economy that has struggled to rebound following the 2011 ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

Net international reserves dropped to $15.5 billion in July, the lowest level in 16 months, as the nation struggles with a crippling foreign-exchange shortage. The central bank weakened the currency by about 13 percent in March in an attempt to attract investment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dana Khraiche in Beirut at dkhraiche@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Caroline Alexander