CAIRO: The Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga has signed 10 agreements on financial grants provided by U.S. economic aid to Egypt at a combined value of $405 million. The funds will be used to support efforts to revamp infrastructure in health and education, in addition to supporting economic reforms and the private sector. On leaving for Bucharest on Tuesday, the Minister said that the agreements she had signed include an amendment which provides about $197.42 million in short-to-mid-term credit facilities to private sector importers of production inputs and capital goods from the United States. The credit facilities will be provided through a number of Egyptian commercial banks included in the aid agreement. Abul Naga added that she signed another amendment to modernize the Egyptian financial sector valued at $6 million in addition to increasing the allocations for technical assistance to improve the legal framework for investment and financial markets, such as the local mortgage market. Technical aid and training will be provided to the Egyptian government to help efforts to support financial markets in a way that could encourage the private sector to increase investment and employment.
