Egypt to spend $10.5 bln to upgrade irrigation-paper

CAIRO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Egypt plans to spend an initial 60 billion Egyptian pounds ($10.5 billion) to upgrade the country's irrigation network, a newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing the agriculture minister.

Countries along the Nile will need more water as their populations grow, a development which could affect Egypt's share of the river's flow, al-Mal quoted the minister, Amin Abaza, as saying. The plan will take 10 to 15 years and involve 5 million feddans (4.8 million acres) of traditional farming areas, the report said. It will be financed by the government and banks at a reduced interest rate of 6 percent.

The government is also working to reclaim an additional 3 million feddans of desert land by 2017, Abaza added.

Officials at the ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya signed a new agreement in May to alter historic sharing arrangements for the Nile's waters, a deal Egypt has said it opposes. [ID:nLDE64I0SW] ($1=5.702 Egyptian Pound) (Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz, editing by Jane Baird)