Egypt in final stage of talks with IMF on new funding: PM

CAIRO – 22 August 2022: The Egyptian government is in the final stage of talks with the International Monetary Fund on a new funding, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said during the Logos Coptic Youth Forum on Monday.

Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Minster of Immigration Soha Gendy, and a number of bishops and church leaders attended the forum.

The premier reviewed the most prominent economic files that the government is working on, noting that Egypt has achieved huge growth rates thanks to the economic reform program it has adopted but this has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war crisis.

In July, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said Egypt is working out the remaining points of difference with the IMF over a new extended fund facility.

Maait affirmed to Al-Arabiya that the talks with the IMF are ongoing and that they have achieved “very, very good progress”.

The value of the loan has not yet been set, Maait noted on the sidelines of the general assembly meeting of the African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) in Cairo.

Since March, Egypt has been in talks with the IMF about a new program that seeks to support Egyptian state’s plans of national comprehensive economic reform.

The new program with the IMF aims at supporting the structural reforms that boost the Egyptian national economy without placing any burdens on citizens, Maait said late In March.

In July, the IMF required Egypt to make “decisive progress” regarding fiscal and structural reforms, saying in its ex-post evaluation (EPE) of Egypt’s exceptional access under the 2020 SBA, that such reforms would enhance the Egyptian economy’s competitiveness, improve governance, and enhance its resilience against shocks.

Over the past decade, Egypt has turned to the IMF several times, including borrowing $2.8 billion and $5.2 billion in May and June 2020 respectively as well as $12 billion in 2016.

In July, the IMF maintained its forecast for the growth of the Egyptian economy during 2022 at 5.9 percent, while reducing its estimates for the growth of the global economy from 3.6 percent to 3.2 percent.

In its July update of the World Economic Outlook, the IMF expected that the Egyptian gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 would register a growth of 4.8 percent.