No line of credit has been opened with India, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy told Reuters, after Bloombergquoted him as saying that the country would provide us with a loan of unspecified value. "Nothing of the sort has been implemented but there are discussions so that we can trade in local currencies of countries like India, Russia or China," El Moselhy told Reuters. Intergovernmental credit lines are typically used in the import of key commodities such as food.

We knew trade in INR was on the table: El Moselhy and Indian officials have in recent months said that the two countries were looking into trading in INR rather than the USD, as a way to mitigate the impacts of the USD crunch and tighter US monetary policy. Egypt is also working on similar moves with Russia and China.

Egypt and India have worked to strengthen ties in recent years: Food security was among the topics of discussion when President El Sisi held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier this year. Modi is expected to visit Egypt later this month, Indian media reported last week.

We have been receiving int’l loans for food imports: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) last week extended us a USD 700 mn loan for grain purchases. The World Bank has also helped pay for wheat imports via a USD 500 mn loan approved last year.

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