The Egyptian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr, met with a delegation from the World Bank to discuss the third tranche of the World Bank’s $3 billion loan to Egypt, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The  tranche is worth $1 billion and is the final portion of the loan.

Finalizing the third tranche before the end of 2017 will encourage private sector investments that will foster development and provide jobs, Nasr noted.

The World Bank agreed to provide Egypt with the $3 billion loan in December 2015 to support the country’s socio-economic reform program. Egypt has already received two tranches for a total of $2 billion.

The World Bank delegation was led by the World Bank’s Egypt and Yemen Energy Program Lead, Ashish Khanna.

The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Deputy for Financial Policies, Ahmed Kouchouk; acting executive director of SMEs Association, Neveen Gamea; head of Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA), Mona El Garf; and representatives of the Ministries of Petroleum, Electricity, Trade and Industry.