IMF approves disbursing final tranche of Egypt's $12B loan

CAIRO - 24 July 2019: The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive council approved on Wednesday, July 24th, the fifth and final tranche of Egypt’s Economic Reform Program.

The approval of the last review will allow Egypt to receive its last $2 billion disbursement of $12 billion loan extended over three years.

In May, the IMF mission reached a staff-level agreement with the Egyptian authorities for the completion of the fifth and the final review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

The IMF’s executive council meeting came days after Egypt applied the fifth and final tranche of fuel subsidies cut to meet the real cost prices, following applying the 14.9 percent hike inelectricity prices.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet’s Media Centre denied in July rumors about Egypt seeking to get a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan after completing Egypt’s first $12 billion loan.

In November 2016, the Executive Board of the IMF approved a $12 billion loan as a financial assistance to Egypt to support the Egyptian economic reform program.

Upon the board's approval in November, Egypt embarked on a bold economic reform program that included floating its currency, losing around 50 percent of its value, as part of the economic reform program which imposed taxes, including the value-added tax (VAT), and cut energy subsidies, all with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.