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 officials say will help restore investor confidence in the economy, Bloomberg reported today. The central bank said it "initiated a repurchase transaction" with overseas banks that has a maturity of one year, with the funding provided against newly issued dollar-denominated sovereign bonds. It's the latest effort to bolster foreign reserves and ease a dollar shortage crippling the economy, following last week's decision to float the Egyptian pound along with a raft of measures aimed at stabilizing the government's fiscal position.
