Egypt, US Sign $190 mn Aid Deal

Minister of Planning Ashraf al-Arabi said on 11/3/2013 that Egypt and the US have signed a $190 million aid deal. This is the first tranche of two totaling $450 million. It will support the general budget and most of it will go to subsidize investment projects, he noted. An agreement was reached on the deal during Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Cairo last week. According to al-Arabi, this comes in line with the US support for Egypt's socio-economic program which was proposed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after being prepared by the government and NGOs. The second tranche is due before the end of 2013. Meantime, al-Arabi expected the return of the IMF technical mission to Egypt shortly to resume negotiations on the IMF $ 4.8 billion loan to be extended to Egypt in the light of the government's implementation of the socio-economic reform program counting on social justice.