The World Bank Group (WBG) announced USD 700 million (EGP 33.7 billion) funding for Egypt to boost the private sector, enhance economic resilience, and promote greener growth, the country’s Ministry of International Cooperation announced in a press statement on 23 June.
“The Government of Egypt is undertaking ambitious economic and structural reforms aimed at creating a more competitive, green, and private sector-led economy,” said Rania A. Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation.
USD 200 million of the fund (EGP 9.6 billion) will come from complementary financing from development partners to the WBG.
The finance package, which falls under the WBG’s Development Policy Financing (DPF), is dubbed “Generating Resilience, Opportunities, and Welfare for a Thriving Egypt” (GROW).
The GROW DPF is the first in a series of three planned operations. It will support key reforms such as creating a legal basis for the State Ownership Policy, empowering the Egyptian Competition Authority to combat non-competitive mergers and acquisitions, ensuring an accurate assessment of payroll taxes, reducing electricity distribution losses, improving climate adaptation capacity, and establishing a regulatory framework for a voluntary carbon credit market.
“Creating good, sustainable jobs and building resilience to climate change is critical for the current and future prosperity of Egypt’s citizens – especially the poor and vulnerable,” said Stephane Guimbert, World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Yemen & Djibouti.
The financing aims to support several of Egypt’s development strategies, including the Sustainable Development Strategy Vision 2030, the State Ownership Policy, the National Climate Change Strategy 2050, and the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy.
The financing is part of the World Bank Group’s three-year USD 6 billion (EGP 289.6 billion) support program for Egypt, announced in March 2024, which aims to spur private sector growth, enhance human capital outcomes, foster climate resilience, and strengthen economic management.
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