The World Bank (WB) has announced the extension of additional financing of USD 500 mn to support Egypt’s social housing program, Invest-Gate reports.

The funding aims to “improve the affordability of formal housing for low-income households in Egypt and strengthen the capacity of Egypt’s Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund [SHMFF] to design policies and coordinate social housing programs,” the WB revealed in a March 20 statement.

The financing supports the country’s ongoing Inclusive Housing Finance Program, which has already benefitted 287,600 households since 2015, the US-based bank further stated.

The new loan brings the total amount provided by the bank to social housing to USD 1.3 bn, benefiting over 300,000 families since 2015, SHMFF CEO May Abdel Hamid said in a ministerial note on March 22.

In April 2019, the Egyptian housing ministry has confirmed that the WB contribution to the first phase of the state’s social housing project and the first phase of the sustainable sanitation program stands at USD 500 mn, separately, according to a previous official statement.