JEDDAH: The Saudi Development Fund (SDF) has offered the Egyptian government $750 million in grants for the country's development. According to a recently-released cabinet statement, SDF offered the grant in three divisions. The first is a donation of $200 million for small and medium-sized enterprises. The second is a soft loan of $500 million to finance top-priority development projects that would be paid back in 20 years with an interest rate of 2 percent. The third part of the grant, the amount of which was not mentioned by the cabinet statement, targets non-oil Saudi exports to Egypt. The statement said the government has also signed a separate loan of $50 million with the fund to finance the construction of an electricity station in the city of Banha, Qalyubiya Governorate. Egypt's Electricity Minister, Hassan Younis and the vice chairman of the Saudi fund Youssef Al-Bassam signed the agreement.
