The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva praised the economic and financial reform package, which Egypt has adopted to face internal and external challenges in light of the regional repercussions of the war in Gaza and the unrest in the Red Sea region that have added more burdens and pressures to the economies of neighboring countries, including Egypt.
This came after the International Monetary Fund approved the first and second reviews of the Extended Fund Facilitation Agreement program for Egypt, in addition to the approval by the Board of Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund to increase the original program agreed upon with Egypt at a value of $3 billion by about $5 billion, so that the value of the financing now amounts to $8 billion, enabling Egypt to withdraw about 820 million dollars immediately.
Kristalina Georgieva said that Egypt faces major macroeconomic challenges that need careful management, pointing to the importance of the reform p
ackage that Egypt has undertaken, which aims to correct macroeconomic imbalances, including unifying the exchange rate, covering the accumulated demand for foreign exchange, tightening monetary and financial policies as well as enhancing the role of the private sector.
Ivanna Vladkova Hollar, , Mission Chief of the International Monetary Fund to Egypt, said that the social axis represents one of the basic foundations of the program agreed upon with Egypt by providing sufficient levels of social spending to protect vulnerable groups, praising the Egyptian government’s measures to launch the latest social protection package worth 180 billion pounds to mitigate the impact of the rise in social spending, increase wages and support the Solidarity and Dignity programme.
Source: State Information Service Egypt