World Bank’s 1st tranche of $3bn awaits parliament’s VAT act approval

The World Bank will provide the first $1 billion tranche of a $3 billion soft loan to Egypt after the parliament approves the new the Value Added Tax (VAT) act, said Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail on Thursday.

Earlier in December, the World Bank agreed to provide Egypt with a $3 billion soft loan within three years to support the state budget.

The government’s programme implementation of the VAT is one of key conditions for the deployment of the first installment, said Vice President of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa Hafez Ghanem in earlier statement last April.

The World Bank has solicited the support of the International Monetary Fund to approve the loan to Egypt as the IMF specialises in financial and economic reform while the World Bank focuses on development and poverty reduction.