The Ismail government has secured preliminary agreements for the supplementary funding it needs to unlock the IMF funding agreement, a central bank official told Al Mal. The IMF had asked Egypt to secure USD 6 bn in funding to release the first tranche of its USD 12 bn, three-year extended fund facility. The staff level agreement with the IMF has made a number of GCC countries more eager to assist Egypt financially, the official said.

Egypt already received USD 1 bn from the World Bank, the first tranche of a three-year, USD 3 bn funding agreement, the Bank said in a statement. “The money will be used to create jobs and improve citizens’ living standards,” International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr told Bloomberg, adding that “the government is already working on finalizing the second tranche from the World Bank, as well as from the African Development Bank.”

The WB will inject USD 8 bn in Egypt until 2019 to finance development projects, Asad Alam, Country Director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti told Ahram Gate. Alam says the most recent funding aims to help Egypt with its fiscal adjustment, increase reliance on sustainable energy, improve competitiveness, and attract investment.