African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has recently agreed to a $500 million facility with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to help Egyptian importers through a foreign currency crisis.
The Afreximbank signed deal, will provide a trade liquidity facility to Egyptian importers, focusing on imports considered strategic to the Egyptian economy.
Egypt’s central bank reserves dwindled from some $36 billion before 2011 to $16.48 billion at the end of January as the central bank helped finance imports and kept the exchange rate artificially strong at 7.7301 pounds per dollar.
Black market rate hovered above 9 pounds per dollar last week, up from around 8.8 pounds a week earlier.
The facility from Cairo-based Afreximbank is part of a programme approved in December and worth more than $3.5 billion, aimed at helping member countries adjust to a collapse in commodities prices and the impact of political violence.
Afreximbank is a multilateral organisation with a mandate to help African countries overcome difficulties with financing and developing trade.
