AfDB’s $500 million loan transferred to Egypt central bank’s account

A US$500 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) was transferred Thursday evening to the Egyptian central bank’s account, an official source from the central bank said.

The North African country has received US$500 million as part of a $1.5 billion loan agreement reached between Egypt and the AfDB last December. The AfDB’s loan is of 0.6 percent interest, with a five-year grace period to be paid over 20 years.

AfDB’s money will be added later to Egypt’s foreign currency reserves, online news portal Ahram Gate reported citing the official banking source.

Egypt’s foreign currency reserves rose by US$23 million to record US$16.445 billion dollars at the end of December from $16.422 billion the previous month.