Egypt secures $2b in financing as IMF approval nears

Cairo: Egypt secured $2 billion in financing from international banks a day before the International Monetary Fund’s board meets to consider a $12 billion loan request officials say will help restore investor confidence in the economy.
The Central Bank of Egypt said it has “initiated a repurchase transaction with a consortium of international banks for a total amount of funding of $2 billion with a maturity of one year.’’ The funds were provided against "the entire amount of newly issued Arab Republic of Egypt dollar-denominated sovereign bonds with maturities of December 2017, November 2024, and November 2028, held by the CBE."
The IMF’s director, Christine Lagarde, said this week she would recommend the fund’s board approve Egypt’s loan request on Friday. Officials have said the deal would help ease a dollar shortage that hampered business activity.
The financing “bolsters the liquidity and size of the international reserves” the central bank said. Egypt’s reserves fell $550 million to $19 billion in October below the previous month.