Egypt to finance light rail project with $1.2bn Chinese loan

Egypt to finance light rail project with $1.2bn Chinese loan
Illustrative picture. PHOTO CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons

Egypt’s Transport Minister, Hisham Arafat, on Wednesday said the 68 km light rail system linking the country’s new capital from an industrial city outskirts of Cairo, will be financed from a $1.2 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China (EximBank).

Arafat said the project which is expected to be completed in two years will be constructed by five state-run companies and three private firms.

The minister explained that $461 million would go to infrastructure and $739 million will be used to procure trains.

He added that the loan which matures in five years has a 1.8 percent interest rate.