Cairo – Mubasher: The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is planning to obtain an EUR 300 million loan from GCC banks to buy two new drilling rigs, three banking sources said.
The Egyptian state-owned body is currently in talks with GCC-based lenders over the loan as it has not reached an agreement with local banks, Reuters reported, citing one of the sources.
In 2017, the SCA had signed a contract with Dutch company Royal IHC to build and supply two drilling rigs at a combined value of nearly EUR 300 million. The authority could not strike a loan agreement with local banks to finance its new business.
Sources have not mentioned any further details regarding the matter and the SCA could not be reached for a comment, according to the London-based news agency.
It is worth noting that Egypt had inaugurated a project in 2015 to expand the Suez Canal at a cost of $8 billion within the framework of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s efforts to achieve an economic leap.
