Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the start of implementing procedures for the fourth review of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) work in Egypt on Tuesday, stressing that the government desires not to impose any additional burdens on citizens.
Madbouly’s remarks came during a press conference on Sunday with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva, and Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Hassan Abdullah.
The Prime Minister held a discussion session with the IMF delegation, stressing that the government is keen to ensure that the IMF program does not place any additional burdens on citizens, taking into account the current local and international circumstances, and taking all appropriate measures in coordination with Fund officials in this regard.
He stressed that the state is committed to continuing to implement the flexible exchange rate, in coordination with the Central Bank of Egypt, to preserve the gains achieved in this regard, especially since failure to do so would take us back to square one.
He said that the IMF confirmed its support for Egypt in all its national plans related to economic reform, expecting more partnership in the coming period.
Madbouly continued: “We are dealing with a world that is witnessing an unprecedented state of changes, whether regional or global, and therefore governments must deal flexibly with these unprecedented changes.”
The IMF shows its support
Georgieva said that her visit came to pay respects towards the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the government and the Egyptian people for the strength they showed amidst the tensions in the region.
“I wanted to tell the people from Cairo that the Fund appreciates the partnership with Egypt, and we provide full support for its stability and economic development,” she added.
Georgieva pointed out that cooperation between the Fund and the government continues to support the achievement of the goals of a strong, flexible economy capable of confronting shocks.
“We showed that support in April when we took the decision to increase the size of the original program with the Egyptian government from three to eight billion dollars, which expresses our awareness of the increasing challenges and difficulties due to the surrounding circumstances,” she explained.
Georgieva explained that the government has been able to successfully implement, over the past few years, successful policies in terms of macroeconomic reform, but there are still many measures that need to be completed.
