IMF to commence 4th review of Egypt’s EFF loan programme in November
This came during a press conference on the sidelines of a press conference held to announce the key economic indices of the FY2023/2024 and to review the ministry's efforts in governing investment expenditure and the integrated national development financing strategy at the ministry's headquarters in the New Administrative Capital (NAC).
Julie Kozack, director of the IMF Communications Department, said in a virtual presser on Thursday that the fourth review of the EFF programme will commence in November.
According to the EFF loan programme schedule, which ends in September 2026, the fourth review is scheduled to finish by December.
The audit completion allows the disbursement of a $1.3 billion tranche of the fund's loan, the largest among the other segments.
Egypt met all the commitments required for the third review of its $8 billion loan programme with the IMF in July.
European mission
Al-Mashat stated that a European mission is visiting Egypt to conduct a review in preparation for disbursing $2.9 billion in funding scheduled for next December.
This represents the second tranche of the financing package the European Union (EU) announced for Egypt in March worth $8 billion in total.
National Financing Strategy
Al-Mashat highlighted the importance of the integrated national financing strategy for development, which the ministry launched during the Future Summit held on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
Moreover, she added that the strategy has been developed in alignment with key national strategies and policies, the national structural reform programme, state ownership policy, and sustainable sovereign financing framework.
Additionally, the minister noted that the strategy aligns with the economic and social development plan and the reform programme supported by the IMF.
She also stated that the strategy will support the Egyptian government's efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and would contribute to closing the financing gap and mitigating future financial risks through its mechanisms and procedures for cooperation, decision-making, and stakeholder engagement in Egypt.
The strategy focuses on priority sectors, with the potential to include other sectors in the future.
The adopted approach is based on the catalytic role of public capital in mobilizing private financing sources and integrating them into financial instruments to close the funding gap and increase resource flows to key sectors and enhance innovative financing mechanisms.
Investments rise
Minister Al-Mashat added that investments directed to governorates increased from EGP 6.8 billion in FY2014/2015 to EGP 28 billion in FY2024/2025, achieving a growth of 315 percent.
She highlighted the growth in investments directed towards human and social development over the past 10 years, which increased from EGP 29.3 billion in FY2015/2016 to EGP 161.9 billion in FY2024/2025.
She also outlined the public investment structure in the economic and social development plan for FY2024/2025, which covers human and social development (42 percent), industrial and infrastructure development (37 percent), and local development (21 percent).
Al-Mashat announced that the ministry will prioritize investment projects with over 70 percent completion for FY2024/2025.
The government pledged to slow down projects that are less than 70 percent complete and postpone new projects, placing an EGP 1 trillion ceiling for total public investment for FY2024/2025.
A-Mashat added that coordination with relevant agencies will set governing rules for investment spending, and no new funding will be granted to agencies without the ministry's coordination.