IMF Approves Disbursement of New $1.8 Billion Tranche to Egypt - Sarmad

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the completion of the seventh review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) agreement with Egypt, enabling Cairo to receive an immediate $1.8 billion.

In a statement issued Thursday evening, the Fund said that completing the two reviews allows Egypt to draw 1.11 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), equivalent to approximately $1.5 billion, under the Extended Financing Facility, in addition to 200 million SDRs, equivalent to $272 million, from the Resilience and Sustainability Facility.

This brings Egypt’s total disbursements from the two programs to approximately 5.4 billion SDRs, equivalent to $7.3 billion.

The Fund clarified that Egypt faced the repercussions of the war in the Middle East from a stronger macroeconomic position compared to previous periods of external pressure, amid recovering growth, declining inflation, and rising international reserves.

It attributed the relatively contained economic impact of the war to measures taken by the authorities, including exchange rate flexibility, adjustments in energy prices, and curbs on budget spending.