The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a total of $1.77 billion in financial support for Egypt after concluding key reviews of the country’s economic reform programmes.
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‎The IMF executive board completed the seventh review of Egypt’s 48-month Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the second review of its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) programme.
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‎Following the approval, Egypt can immediately access about $1.5 billion under the EFF and an additional $272 million through the RSF, increasing total disbursements from both programmes to approximately $7.3 billion.
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‎The global lender, however, called on Egyptian authorities to accelerate privatisation efforts and reduce the government’s involvement in economic activities to strengthen private-sector growth.
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‎According to the IMF, Egypt has managed the economic effects of the ongoing Middle East conflict better than during previous external shocks due to stronger economic fundamentals, including steady growth, declining inflation and increased foreign reserves.
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‎The Fund attributed the relative stability to government measures such as maintaining exchange rate flexibility, adjusting energy prices and controlling public spending.
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‎Egypt’s economy continued its recovery, with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth reaching five per cent in the third quarter of the 2025/2026 fiscal year, while growth for the first nine months stood at 5.2 per cent. The IMF expects annual growth to settle at about 4.6 per cent, slightly below earlier projections.
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‎Inflation, which had been declining until March 2026, rose to 15.2 per cent due to currency depreciation and increased energy costs. It later eased to 14.3 per cent in June, although core inflation remained elevated.
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‎The country’s current account experienced pressure in March following a rise in global oil and gas prices. However, strong remittance inflows, improved tourism earnings and a gradual rebound in Suez Canal revenue helped limit the impact, with the deficit projected at 4.5 per cent of GDP for the fiscal year.
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‎The IMF noted that oil hedging arrangements and long-term gas supply agreements also helped reduce the effect of rising energy prices. Egypt’s gross international reserves remained strong, reaching 119 per cent of the IMF’s reserve adequacy metric by the end of June.
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‎The Fund further praised Egypt’s fiscal performance, noting that the country surpassed its primary balance and tax revenue targets by March 2026 through stronger revenue collection and spending controls.
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‎It added that government efforts had helped reduce gross financing needs by five per cent of GDP during the 2025/2026 fiscal year.
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‎The IMF projected that Egypt’s tax-to-GDP ratio would increase by 1.2 percentage points in the current fiscal year, while continued revenue reforms could raise the primary surplus from 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2025/2026 to five per cent in 2026/2027.