President Mohamed Morsy and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a US$1 billion loan Sunday, half of the aid package Ankara promised Cairo earlier this month, Egypt’s state news agency reported.
The two leaders signed the agreement after Morsy spoke to the Turkish ruling party's general conference in Ankara. In a joint press conference with Erdogan, Morsy said he looks forward to improving economic relations between the two countries.
The Egyptian government is seeking loans or deposits to offset a budget deficit of over LE135 billion, and improve cash reserves that fell from $36 billion to $15 billion after the 25 January uprising early last year.
State-run news agency MENA quoted Saeed as saying the loan is part of a $2 billion aid package, half of which would be in the form of a $1 billion loan. The other half, he said, would be in the form of investments and partnership in infrastructure projects.
No further details about the deal were announced.
