A high-level source at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said on Thursday that Egypt will receive the third installment of the loan agreed with the country and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within days, worth $2 billion.
The IMF Executive Board met on Wednesday and approved the third installment, which would bring the total IMF loan payment to Egypt to $6 billion so far, half of the value of the final loan.
A high-level source at the IMF said that the Egyptian economy is expected to undergo three further reviews in June 2018, December 2018, and June 2019, before it is granted the final three loan payments.
The third tranche of the loan, together with loans from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Arab funds, raises the total external funding for the Egyptian budget to over $8 billion in 2017.
An official source from the Ministry of International Cooperation said that Egypt received a grant from Britain worth about $150 to finance the budget. This grant is to be directed in full with the third tranche of the IMF loan for development projects in Upper Egypt.
The source said that new negotiations with the African Development Bank (ADB) are taking place, but the government has not yet identified the development projects to fund. The source also ruled out negotiating with the World Bank for new loans in 2018.
Following Wednesday’s IMF meeting, the monetary organization said Egypt’s reform program is yielding positive results, showing “signs of stabilization, with GDP growth recovering, inflation moderating, fiscal consolidation remaining on track, and international reserves reaching their highest level since 2011.”
“The banking system, has also remained resilient to moderate shocks,” said the First Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair of the IMF David Lipton.
“Egypt’s reform program is yielding encouraging results. The economy is showing welcome signs of stabilization, with GDP growth recovering, inflation moderating, fiscal consolidation remaining on track, and international reserves reaching their highest level since 2011. The banking system has also remained resilient to moderate shocks,” said First Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair of IMF David Lipton.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
