CAIRO: Egypt has received a $1.2 billion credit facility from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) to help it pay for commodity imports, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Faiza Abu el-Naga said.
The loan, signed on Thursday, carries a 3.75 percent interest rate and will be available immediately. It will be used for imports of oil, oil products and wheat and other food commodities, she said.
"This loan will reduce pressure on foreign reserves," Abu el-Naga said.
Egypt's central bank has drawn down more than $20 billion of its foreign reserves, reducing them to $15.72 billion, to support the country's currency in the wake of the uprising that unseated Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
The ITFC is a subsidiary of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank.
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