World Bank reaffirms position on Egypt’s aid ahead of spring meetings
The World Bank is waiting on the Egyptian parliament to sign off on the government’s national plan before handing over the USD 1 bn first tranche of the USD 3 bn development loan it agreed to last year, said Hafez Ghanem, the WBG Vice President of for MENA, reiterating previous statements. Ghanem made sure to mention that the value-added tax was a crucial element (read: deal breaker) in the plan at a World Bank preliminary session on supporting growth in the MENA region ahead of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, Al Borsa reports. The meetings begin on Friday. As we noted yesterday, Egypt’s International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr is in DC laying the groundwork for the arrival of the Egyptian delegation, which will include Finance Minister Amr El Garhy and CBE Governor Tarek Amer. Ghanem also stated that the growth forecast for the Middle East would be 3% in 2016 despite conflicts and lower oil revenues.