Egypt has received a $2 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia, an Egyptian Central Bank official said, moving closer to securing several billions of dollars needed to seal a prospective $12 billion loan.

Attijariwafa bank and Barclays Bank PLC announced that they have signed in Cairo an agreement whereby Attijariwafa bank will acquire 100% of the share capital of Barclays Bank Egypt from Barclays Bank PLC, subject to regulatory approvals from, among others, the Central Bank of Egypt and Central Bank of Morocco.

The Central Bank of Egypt decided to keep interest rates unchanged from July at a meeting of its monetary policy committee on Thursday.

The World Bank has provided Egypt with the first $1 billion tranche of a $3 billion loan, as part of its support for the government's economic programme, the Ministry of International Cooperation said Friday.