CAIRO: Egypt's finance ministry expects the IMF's Executive Board to approve the third review of the country's economic reform program, scheduled for Monday.
The IMF is expected to reimburse Egypt $820 million after its review is complete, and the government aims to ensure the continued success of future reviews.
Egyptian Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said the government is strategically managing complex geopolitical factors to improve economic performance.
“We look forward to the IMF's approval of this third review of the economic reform agenda to build on the success of the upcoming reviews and continue funding through the Resilience and Sustainability Fund,” he said in a statement.
Kouchouka's statements follow a meeting with IMF Director General Kristalina Georgieva on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Brazil.
The minister reiterated the government's commitment to achieving fiscal discipline by reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio.
“Furthermore, the government aims to create sufficient fiscal space to increase spending on education, health and social protection and reduce the rate of inflation in order to stabilize prices, thereby improving the living conditions of citizens and boosting the competitiveness of companies.
Kouchouk emphasized the government's priority to increase private sector investments and support production and export activities.
He said Egypt is working to simplify procedures within the tax and customs system in order to restore trust between the business community and the tax administration, as well as increase the quality of services for taxpayers.
Egypt has also been keen to push for structural reforms and private investment in renewable energy, technology, water desalination and infrastructure, Kouchouk said.
“The government ensures consistency of economic policy by setting limits on total public investment, government guarantees and the ratio of public debt to GDP.”
Georgieva reaffirmed the IMF's commitment to continue close cooperation with Egypt.
The IMF managing director wrote on social media: “We look forward to the Board's assessment this Monday.
Egyptian economic expert Medhat Nafee told Arab News: “This revision was originally scheduled earlier, but the board indicated the need to slightly postpone it to Monday, July 29.
“The reasons for the delay were not clear, although I suspect it was related to Egypt's previous commitments, especially regarding the recent increase in fuel prices and the important measures required by the fund.”
Nafee said disbursement of the new tranche of the IMF loan could be delayed, which “requires further discussions and a careful assessment of the situation.”
The IMF has already recovered about $3.3 billion in debt and related interest, while the remaining amount to be paid to Egypt was only about $820 million, he said.
