The International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to submit a new loan agreement with Egypt for approval by its board, the global lender’s communications chief said Thursday, as the country seeks to strengthen its economy.
“A policy package of reforms will be considered by the Fund’s executive board, along with the fourth review of Egypt’s program,” IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack told reporters in Washington.
Kozack explained that the new planned loan agreement would take the form of a Resilience and Sustainability Facility, or RSF, designed in part to help countries tackle climate change, adding that she could not yet confirm its size.
Last year, the IMF expanded its existing loan package from $3 billion to $8 billion to help Egypt manage its economic challenges amid regional instability unleashed by the war in Gaza.
A draft agreement was reached on a review of Egypt’s existing loan program back in December, which should unlock an additional $1.2 billion to help the Egyptian economy as it faces a series of headwinds.
The executive board’s approval is largely a rubber-stamping exercise, with disagreements between stakeholders usually ironed out before the vote.
Repeated attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Huthi rebels in support of Palestinians in Gaza have caused Egypt’s revenues from the Suez Canal – a key foreign currency earner – to plummet.
With AFP
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