The committee, which is convening for the first time, reviewed the fair value of the bank’s shares to eventually list them on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX).
The government had established the committee to determine which state-owned and government-backed entities require financial or managerial support through the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE).
In 2023, the government announced that it would sell stakes in 32 state-owned companies in sectors such as oil, tourism, energy, petrochemicals, insurance, and banking.
However, only nine of the 32 companies have been partially divested. The slow progress in selling procedures in 2024 reduced US dollar inflows from divestments in the fiscal year (FY) 2024/2025 from $3 billion to $0.6 billion.
The IPO programme is part of Egypt’s efforts to rebalance the economy by reducing the state’s economic footprint and boosting private sector activity, as per the State Ownership Policy (SOP). The policy was recently updated to create more space for the private sector in certain industries while determining those that should remain under state management.
Furthermore, governance of state-owned banks is one of Egypt’s commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme. It supports the country’s second wave of economic and structural reforms through 2026.
The IMF confirmed Egypt's macroeconomic stabilization remains certain, provided that the country continues with reforms to reduce economic stress and enhance the participation of the private sector.
The fund had expected these reforms to boost the remaining four reviews under the current $8 billion EFF and the newly approved $1.3 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) loan programme.
After concluding the fourth EFF review in March 2025, the IMF noted that despite several legislative and procedural steps and indicators to track progress, the government's efforts to enhance the role of the private sector in accordance with the State Ownership Policy (SOP) had been sporadic. The fund also stated that the SOP has not resulted in sufficient implementation of critical reforms.
With only one review left for fiscal year (FY) 2026/2027, estimated at $2.1 billion, the IMF recently approved the combined fifth and sixth reviews of Egypt’s economic reform program, unlocking about $2.27 billion in fresh financing.
The country’s 46-month EFF arrangement, originally approved in December 2022, has been extended through 15 December 2026.
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