In a release published November 1, 2018, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that it reached a staff agreement with Egypt for disbursement of a new tranche of $2 billion to this North African country.

"The staff-level agreement is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board", the institution wrote indicating that this tranche would increase the loan already granted to Egypt in the framework of a $12 billion support program, approved in November 2016, to $10 billion.

In return to this 3-year support program, Egypt initiated bold economic reforms, such as liberalization of the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound, reduction of subventions allocated to the energy sector and some non-essential products as well as the establishment of a value-added tax (VAT).

The IMF explained that these reforms led to economic growth noticed by a team of experts recently sent to Cairo by the institution.

"The Egyptian economy has continued to perform well", explained the team of IMF experts led by Subir Lall (photo), the Assistant Director, Middle East and Central Asia Department at International Monetary Fund

The Fund also praised acceleration of growth to 5.3%, a drop of the unemployment rate to less than 10% and a decrease of the current account deficit due to remittances and revival of the tourism sector. The IMF also indicated the "prudent" monetary policy of Central Bank of Cairo and solidity of the country’s profitable and well-capitalized banking system. It also advises Egyptian authorities to continue reducing energy subsidies and collect revenues to invest in social safety nets as well as in the health, education and infrastructure sectors.