Controversial economic measures have ignited a state of public discontent among Egypt’s population whose almost one-third is below the poverty line. [Getty]
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, is due in Cairo next week to discuss details of the fourth review of the global lender’s loan programme with senior Egyptian officials.
Local news outlets reported that Georgieva’s visit will precede another by an IMF delegation expected to review Egypt’s economic progress. The reports did not elaborate further on the dates of the visits.
The much-awaited review had been previously postponed twice until Egypt could fulfil the deal terms set by the IMF amid the toughest economic crisis the country has witnessed in its modern history.
Several Egyptian government officials, meanwhile, recently denied any new devaluation of the local currency before the US dollar, a significant term in the deal that Egypt signed with the IMF. IMF officials, on the other hand, repeatedly ruled out a future increase in the loan Egypt has been offered.
Upon completion of the fourth review, Egypt is expected to receive $1.3 billion as part of the IMF’s extended fund facility (EFF).
No further details were immediately available on the review completion date. But unconfirmed reports expected meetings to last for weeks.
On 26 August, the IMF’s third review report concluded that the revenues derived from Egypt’s main sources of national income, including from the Suez Canal, had declined for months due to regional turmoil.
After prolonged negotiations, the IMF extended Egypt’s loan programme from $3 billion to $8 billion almost three months earlier.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said during a press conference following a cabinet meeting that talks with the IMF had been under way about extending the timeline of certain economic policies.
Madbouly’s remarks came almost ten days after President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi publicly reassured Egyptians that no measures would be taken to further burden them.
During an improvised speech at the Global Congress on Population, Health, and Human Development in Cairo, Sisi said that “the situation must be reviewed with the IMF.”
A few days earlier, though, the prices of fuel products were raised for the third time in 2024, leading to hikes in the value of almost all essential commodities.
Earlier this year, the government also raised the price of subsidised bread by 400 percent this year, the first increase since 1988.
A major prerequisite of the IMF loan deal is that Egypt must gradually lift subsidies on essential goods, including fuel and electricity, and reduce tax exemptions.
Such controversial measures have ignited a state of discontent among the population in Egypt.
