The Economy Is Gathering Strength

The IMF on September 26 published the staff report for the first review of Egypt’s economic reform program, which aims at restoring the economic stability of Egypt and paving the way for higher long-term growth.

The program is off to a good start, with the government carrying out bold but necessary reforms while protecting the poor. The IMF Executive Board approval of the government's program led to a disbursement of $1.25 billion of the $12 billion support under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility.

“The Egyptian authorities have embarked on an ambitious reform program and have taken decisive measures aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and sustainable public finances. At the same time, by strengthening social protection measures, they have sought to protect the most vulnerable. We have seen that economic activity has been gathering strength and efforts at reining in the budget deficit have begun to bear fruit. With the liberalization of the foreign exchange market, foreign currency shortages have disappeared. Looking ahead through the end of this year and into next year, the policy mix is also supportive of a decline in inflation from the high levels in the summer,” said Subir Lall, the head of the team dealing with Egypt at the IMF.