A consortium of banks signed a LE10 billion ($1.4 billion) loan agreement with Egypt's petroleum sector on Wednesday, state-run news agency MENA reported.

The loan, granted by the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Commercial International Bank (CIB), the Arab African Bank, and Qatar National Bank (QNB), will be used to repay some of Egypt's debt to foreign oil companies.

It consists of a LE6billion loan in the local currency to be repaid over five years, including a one-year grace period, and $550 million (LE4 billion) loan in US dollars to be repaid over four years with a one-year grace period, according to NBE chairman Hisham Okasha.

Egypt owes some $6 billion in arrears to oil and gas companies operating in the country.

Egypt plans to repay between $2-3 billion of this debt to foreign firms by the end of the year, Minister of Petroleum Sherif Ismail announced at a press conference on Tuesday.