EBRD May Be Able to Invest 1 Billion Euros in Egypt, Morocco

EBRD May Be Able to Invest 1 Billion Euros in Egypt, Morocco "The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development may be able to invest as much as 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in Egypt and Morocco, according to the bank’s president, Thomas Mirow.

It would take as long as nine months to get full agreement on the loans, Mirow told reporters today in Brussels.

The EBRD, which has fostered the building of market economies in eastern Europe in the past two decades, stands ready to help nations in North Africa and the Middle East, adding to the 29 countries where it invests, Mirow said Feb. 23.

EBRD shareholders approved an increase in the London-based lender’s capital by 50 percent to 30 billion euros last May. That enables it to invest about 52 billion euros until 2015, more than the total investment since it was founded in 1991.

Egypt, a founding shareholder of the EBRD, filed a request in May to be included in the bank’s target region. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was toppled Feb. 11 after anti- government protests."