International Monetary Fund urges Egypt to proceed with monetary policy, successful reforms

CAIRO – 20 July 2020: Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva urged Egypt to “stay the course” and proceed with its monetary policy and successful reforms amid the coronavirus crisis, especially in terms of state-owned enterprises.

In a video meeting on Zoom with TV host Lamis Al-Hadidi on Al-Hadath, Georgieva said the Egyptian state acted “very swiftly” once the coronavirus pandemic started to protect people and therefore protect the economy.

“It has been very fast to recognize the necessity of additional buffers. We have been able to provide $2.8 billion of emergency financing. Now we have over $5 billion in a standby arrangement,” she added.

Georgieva affirmed that Egypt has used that fund “very wisely to build reserves and put the brakes on what was dangerously going up, inflation, as well as impact on the currency.”

“The Central Bank of Egypt also acted swiftly with more accommodative monetary policy, but above all what we have seen Egypt doing correctly is to expand social protection, because more people, because of the pandemic, found themselves in need for help.”

She noted that the Egyptian social protection measures are “indeed paying off” as tourism has been dramatically impacted and many people who have been working in the field lost their source of income.

مدير صندوق النقد الدولي لـ "لميس الحديدي":مصر تستخدم تمويل صندوق النقد بمنتهى الحكمة ..اعرف التفاصيل

أشترك فى القناة الرسمية لبرنامج "القاهرة الآن" - https://hdth.tv/zfuxp برنامج القاهرة الآن مع لميس الحديدي برنامج إخباري يهتم بشئون وأخبار مصر، ويستضيف كبار ...

In May, the Executive Board of the IMF approved Egypt's financial package request to enhance the state’s capabilities to face coronavirus crisis.

This came as a proactive step based on the successful implementation of the economic reform program; to maintain the continuing gains and positive results achieved by the Egyptian economy, in light of the exceptional circumstances experienced by all countries of the world and developments in global conditions.

Earlier in July, IMF Mission Chief for Egypt Uma Ramakrishnan said that the country's economic reform program has positively contributed to countering the impacts of the novel virus.

In a remote interview with DMC TV channel tonight, Ramakrishnan added that the IMF supports Egypt in its efforts to mitigate the coronavirus economic fallout on the most affected sectors.

She went on to say that Egypt is able to face the coronavirus effects, expecting that the country would see a 2 percent increase in its growth rates over the coming period. 

The IMF official explained that the state adopted economic policies that helped cut public debt levels, saying that the Egyptian economy is projected to see a surge in growth rates over the next years.