EBRD earmarks €1.5 billion to spend in Egypt this year

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has earmarked €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) for new investments in Egypt for 2019, principal economist Rafik Selim said on Tuesday.

Between 2012 until 2018, EBRD invested over €5 billion in Egypt, 70 percent of which went for the private sector, Selim added.

Set up in 1991 to help former communist countries in eastern Europe shift to market economies, the London-based EBRD has extended its operations over the last decade to more than 35 countries, from Morocco to Mongolia. It started its operations in Egypt in 2012.

Last year Egypt overtook Turkey as the EBRD’s largest recipient of investment, with €1.2 billion invested in renewable energy, power, property and tourism, agribusiness, and transport.