Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities asked the Ministry of Finance to allocate EGP 10m in wages and salaries for the Grand Egyptian Museum’s employees in the state budget of fiscal year (FY) 2017/2018, according to an official at the Ministry of Antiquities. The official said that the government has decided five months ago to transform the Grand Egyptian Museum into an economic body, so that it can achieve revenues that will enable the museum to cover its needs. The Ministry of Antiquities intends to transfer 2,000 antiquities to the Grand Egyptian Museum this year in preparation for the partial opening of the museum. The Ministry of Antiquities hopes to partially open the Grand Egyptian Museum in the first half of 2018, while the museum will be fully opened in 2022. JICA has secured $860m of the total project’s cost in a facilitated loan, while the Egyptian government provided $250m.

Source: Daily News Egypt May 18, 2017 08:15 UTC