The World Bank has approved $700 million in financing to support Egypt’s private sector, economic resilience, and green growth.
The Development Policy Financing operation is designed to help Egypt address short-term economic challenges while advancing structural reforms to spur private sector growth.
It also aims to hasten Egypt’s green transition, including scaling up renewable energy and increasing efficiency in the electricity, water, and sanitation sectors.
Egypt’s minister of international cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, said, “The government of Egypt is undertaking ambitious economic and structural reforms aimed at creating a more competitive, green and private sector-led economy. Through this budget support instrument, the DPF with the World Bank helps advance policy reforms on three of its top national priorities: Building macro-fiscal resilience, enhancing economic competitiveness and improving the business environment, and supporting the green transition. Our longstanding partnership with the World Bank underpins the realisation of Egypt’s development and reform efforts.”
The DPF is the first in a series of three operations. It will advance key reforms, including strengthening governance for state-owned enterprises, empowering the Egyptian Competition Authority, ensuring accuracy in payroll taxes, scaling up renewable energy, and launching a voluntary carbon credit market regulatory framework.
In March, the World Bank Group announced a three-year $6 billion programme to support Egypt.
“Creating good, sustainable jobs and building resilience to climate change are critical for the current and future prosperity of Egypt’s citizens — especially the poor and vulnerable. Reforms supported by this operation are an important step toward a more sustainable, inclusive economy,” said Stephane Guimbert, World Bank country director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti.
Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation has announced that the Development Policy Finance (DPF) is in line with the World Bank and Egypt’s Country Partnership Framework for the fiscal years 2023 to 2027.
This framework is based on research conducted by the World Bank Group on Egypt, including the Country Private Sector Diagnostic and the Country Climate and Development Report.
Out of the total $700 million in the DPF, $200 million is contingent on additional financing from development partners.
The ministry has highlighted that the DPF is aligned with Egypt’s development priorities and national strategies, such as the Sustainable Development Strategy Vision 2030, the State Ownership Policy, the National Climate Change Strategy 2050, and the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy.