BREAKING NEWS

World Bank set to provide Egypt with first tranche of $3 billion loan

CAIRO - The World Bank will provide the first $1 billion tranche of a $3 billion loan to Egypt after parliament approves the government's economic program, World Bank vice president Hafez Ghanem said at a news conference late Tuesday.
Parliament is expected to pass the program in April.
Egypt has been negotiating billions of dollars in aid from various lenders to help revive an economy battered by political upheaval since the 2011 revolt and ease a dollar shortage that has crippled import activity and hampered recovery.
The lender had agreed to provide the first $1 billion in December but is waiting for the government's economic program, which outlines the broad strokes of its reform plans, to be passed by parliament.