The government pledged EGP275bn for Sinai development over four years, PM Sherif Ismail said as he delivered a speech to the House on the government’s spending plans to develop the peninsula. These would be financed by both the state and through loans from international and regional finance institutions. Investment Minister Sahar Nasr had signed a USD100mn loan from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) to complete the financing of five water desalination plants in South Sinai, while the Ismail Cabinet signed off on USD258.5mn in funding from KFAED for North Sinai last week. The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development had pledged three grants of USD2.8bn in total to support development projects in Sinai.