Egyptian Finance Minister Ahmed Kojak said that Egypt will receive a $1.2 billion tranche from the International Monetary Fund this month as part of an $8 billion loan program from the International Financial Corporation.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund announced that it had reached an expert-level agreement with Egypt regarding the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility Agreement, which lasts 46 months, which may allow the disbursement of the $1.2 billion tranche.
He added in a televised interview yesterday evening, Sunday: “God willing, the Board of Directors (the International Monetary Fund’s Board of Directors) will meet in January, and God willing, we will obtain this amount,” indicating that Egypt did not request an increase in the loan amounting to Its value is 8 billion dollars.
Egypt, which suffers from high inflation rates and a shortage of foreign currency, agreed last March to an expanded International Monetary Fund program, and the sharp decline in Suez Canal revenues due to regional tension over the past year exacerbated the economic crisis.
In response to a question about whether Egypt plans to return to the international bond market this year, Kojak said that Egypt aims to raise about $3 billion during the remainder of the current fiscal year, which continues until the end of June, through “various issuances” to investors, but he did not provide More details.
First quarter growth
It is noteworthy that Egypt’s gross domestic product grew by 3.5% in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2024-2025, compared to 2.7% in the same quarter of the previous year, according to what the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation announced at the end of last month. The fiscal year in Egypt begins on the first of July.
In a statement, the Ministry attributed this growth to the reform policies taken by the government with the aim of restoring macroeconomic stability and enhancing the governance of public investments, as well as to the noticeable improvement in some major economic activities, especially the manufacturing industry.
The industrial production index, excluding petroleum refining, recorded positive growth of 6% on average during the first quarter of the fiscal year, compared to a contraction rate of 7.7% in the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal year.
The Ministry expected that economic activity would continue to improve during the coming period and that the domestic product would continue to grow to reach 4% during the fiscal year.
The statement indicated a continued decline in Suez Canal activity during the first quarter of the fiscal year, as it decreased by 68.4%, which led to a decrease in the number of ships passing through the canal, and thus a decrease in its revenues.
