Egypt signed on Monday the second tranche, worth USD 500 million, of a $1.5 billion loan package from  the African Development Bank (AfDB), Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation (MoIC) announced.

In a statement on the ministry's website, minister Sahar Nasr also said the World Bank would hold a meeting on Tuesday to approve the second $1 billion tranche of its $3 billion loan to Egypt, which is set to be delivered over three years to support the country's budget.

According to the MoIC, the AfDB loan is intended to support government programmes that aim to achieve social and economic development by creating new jobs and improving the business environment.

Nasr signed the first $500 million tranche of the AfDB loan in December 2015. That loan is also scheduled to be delivered over three years.

Leila El-Mokadem, the AfDB’s representative in Egypt, confirmed that the bank aims to continue its partnership with Egypt in 2017 to deliver the 3rd and final tranche of the fund, also worth $500, the statement said.

The World Bank provided the first $1 billion to Egypt in September. The second tranche is expected to arrive in January, and the final one later in 2017.  

On 11 November, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) confirmed its receipt of an initial $2.75 billion from the International Monetary Fund following the board’s approval of a $12 billion loan to support Cairo's ongoing economic reforms.

Egypt's economy has been struggling since 2011 due to a sharp drop in tourism and foreign investment, two main sources of hard currency for the import-dependent country.

The country's foreign reserves stood at $23 billion by the end of November.