Responding to Ahram Online's questions on the timeline for the Board's consideration of the two programme reviews and on the economic impact of the renewed escalation in the Middle East, Julie Kozack, Director of the IMF's Communications Department, said the Fund's staff had reached a staff-level agreement with the Egyptian authorities on both reviews on 29 June.
Kozack made her remarks during the hybrid press briefing the IMF held on Thursday.
Kozack told Ahram Online that the IMF is expected to have its Executive Board consider Egypt's seventh review under the $8 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme and the second review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) later this summer, thus unlocking about $1.6 billion in financing for the country upon approval.
"We expect the Executive Board to consider the review later in the summer. Upon Board approval, Egypt would receive about $1.6 billion in financing," Kozack said.
Commenting on the regional conflict, Kozack said Egypt, like all IMF member countries, is navigating an environment of heightened global uncertainty. She noted, however, that the country's reform programme has strengthened its ability to withstand external shocks.
"What we have seen in Egypt so far is that its strong policy actions have helped mitigate the impact of the external shock stemming from the war in the Middle East," Kozack told Ahram Online.
She said Egypt's timely macroeconomic policy adjustments have preserved macroeconomic stability and strengthened the economy's resilience despite growing regional uncertainty.
Kozack said the IMF's advice for Egypt remains to stay the course on reforms by continuing to implement the economic programme and accelerating measures to improve the economy's resilience, particularly by creating more space for private sector-led growth.
"The advice in this world of uncertainty and shocks is to continue on the path of reforms... and continue to take the reforms which can really improve the resilience of the economy. Part of that, importantly, is to increase the space for private sector-led growth in Egypt," she said.
More broadly, Kozack said the IMF continues to support countries affected by the Middle East conflict primarily through existing lending programmes, policy advice, and capacity development rather than launching new financing arrangements.
She noted that many of the countries most vulnerable to the war-driven surge in energy, food, and fertilizer prices already have IMF-supported programmes, allowing the Fund to provide additional assistance through measures such as financing augmentations or rephasing where necessary.
While describing the global economy as resilient despite successive shocks, Kozack said uncertainty remains exceptionally high. She attributed this resilience to two opposing forces: the negative supply shock from the Middle East war, which has pushed up commodity prices, and a positive boost from the global technology cycle, particularly AI-driven investment.
However, she warned that the impact has been uneven, with commodity-importing countries that have limited fiscal space bearing the brunt of higher import costs while benefiting less from the technology-led upswing.
Egypt's economy is projected to grow 4.6 percent in 2026, up from 4.4 percent estimated for the previous year, according to the IMF July 2026 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update released on Wednesday. The Fund also expected growth to moderate slightly to 4.4 percent in the current FY2026/2027, which started on 1 July, citing the expected economic impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East despite stronger-than-anticipated domestic economic activity.
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