Egypt has signed contracts to sell stakes in state assets worth a total of $1.9 billion as part of a programme to boost the private sector and raise scarce hard currency, according to Reuters.
The stake sales came within the country’s plan to launch economic reforms under a US$3 billion IMF loan programme.
Of the $1.9 billion, $1.65 billion would be paid in foreign currency, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said.
The government is targeting US$2 billion from stake sales by the end of June, but its efforts faced delays in recent months.
The government is about one-quarter through a list of 32 state companies that it announced it would sell stakes in, and is preparing stake sales in other companies for later, said Madbouly.
Egypt expects to increase its annual inflow of hard currency by $70 billion per year to reach US$191 billion by 2026, he added.
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