The European Investment Bank is willing to kick in EUR 255 mn in funding for the Transport Ministry’s planned upgrades to the Cairo Metro’s first and second lines, a delegation of EIB representatives told Minister Hisham Arafat during a meeting in Cairo on Thursday, Al Borsa reports. Line 1 would receive EUR 180 mn, and the remaining EUR 75 mn would be directed towards work on Line 2. The EIB has already provided around EUR 600 mn in funding for the development of Cairo Metro Line 3. The ministry is also in talks with the EIB and the central bank to receive a facilitated loan to purchase spare parts and brakes for the railway, Arafat tells the newspaper. The ministry is negotiating with the CBE for subsidized financing at a 6% interest rate normally offered to SMEs, according to the minister.