Egypt's Economic Reform: IMF's Fifth Review Underway

The International Monetary Fund has kicked off the fifth review of Egypt's substantial $8 billion economic reform initiative. A specialized team from the fund is set to arrive in Cairo this week to conduct the assessment, as per IMF's announcement on Monday.

This follows the approval of the fourth evaluation by the IMF board on March 11, which subsequently unlocked a $1.2 billion disbursement as part of a 46-month loan program sanctioned initially in 2022. The program's scope expanded with the emergence of conflict in Gaza. Concurrently, Egypt grapples with a severe foreign currency deficit and inflation rates soaring to 38% as of September 2023.

While a full staff report on the fourth review is pending publication, due to prolonged consideration by Egyptian authorities, the IMF team is set to hold their review in Cairo until May 16. Additionally, an extra $1.3 billion was approved in March under the IMF's Resilience and Sustainability Fund, alongside a waiver for Egypt's primary budget surplus target.

(With inputs from agencies.)