IMF to release staff report on Egypt's $12 bln loan agreement

Ahram Online , Wednesday 18 Jan 2017

IMF
File Photo of the International Monetary Fund. (Photo: Reuters)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will release in an online conference on Wednesday the staff report and documents related to Egypt’s three-year $12 billion loan agreement.

The online conference, to take place at 5pm Cairo Time, will see the first comprehensive report released by the IMF on the loan agreement with Egypt.

The IMF deal was approved by the cabinet on 11 January, but is yet to be approved by parliament.

In November, the British embassy in Egypt revealed some clauses of the loan agreement, including the commitment of an additional 1 percent of GDP towards protecting the poorest citizens from rising inflation, new measures that will increase female labour force participation, and a plan to clear outstanding arrears to international oil companies.

The IMF said in a November statement that “the new reform program seeks to revive Egypt’s growth prospects by restoring stability and confidence in the economy, and implementing structural reforms that will create jobs.”

After the receiving the tranche of the IMF loan as well loans from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, Egypt’s foreign reserves reached $24.2 billion by the end of December 2016, up from around $16.5 billion in January 2016, the central bank said.

Following the floatation of the local currency last November, the IMF board approved the loan and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) received an initial $2.75 billion tranche.

The CBE freely floated the pound in November and raised key interest rates as part of a set of reforms aimed at alleviating a dollar shortage and stabilising the country's flagging economy.

Egypt's economy has been struggling since the 2011 uprising, with a sharp drop in tourism and foreign investment — two main sources of hard currency for the import-dependent country.

Short link: