BP Plans to Invest $13b in Egypt

British oil company BP Plc has plans to invest some $13 billion in Egypt before 2020, the UK embassy in Cairo said in a statement on Monday.

According to the embassy, Britain has been providing investment flows worth $30.5 billion since 2011, with three major British companies—Vodafone, Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline—investing $300 million in Egypt last month, Reuters reported.

Egypt's debts to international oil and gas companies rose to $3.58 billion by the end of September, rising from $3.2 billion six months ago, a statement by the country's oil ministry said in October.

The ministry said that it has paid during 2015/16 a total of $5.4 billion, with $100 million as accumulative arrears owed to the foreign companies.

The embassy has also revealed some details, given for the first time at the International Monetary Fund board meeting, which included the UK executive director on the board, to decide on the Egyptian financial request on 11 November.

Egypt embarked on an economic reform program in July 2014 aimed at trimming the budget deficit and increasing the country's economic growth rate through introducing new taxes such as the value-added tax and cutting energy subsidies.

On Friday, the IMF board approved a $12 billion loan to Egypt over three years to help the country recover from its deep economic crisis and the dollar shortage suffered since the 2011.

The governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Tarek Amer said last week that the bank received an initial batch of $2.75 billion immediately following the board’s approval.