International bank consortium to extend tenor, increase value of repo: A consortium of international banks have offered to extend a USD 2 bn repurchase agreement (repo) with a maturity of one year, rolling it over into a USD 5 bn repo with a five-year maturity, Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer said yesterday on the sidelines of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion's Global Policy Forum in Sharm El Sheikh. The appetite underscores strengthened international faith in the Egyptian economy, the governor said. The central bank had entered into the agreement in November of last year.

Amer also said the USD 2.7 bn currency swap agreement with China, signed in October2016, will be renewed at the end of the year. The repo and the swap were, together, vital to Egypt’s bid to secure the USD 12 bn IMF extended fund facility last year.

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