Egypt says it received final $2 billion portion of IMF loan

Egypt's finance minister says his country has received the final $2 billion portion of a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

07 August, 2019

Egypt's official statistics agency reported that one in three Egyptians are living in poverty [AFP]

Egypt received the final $2 billion portion of a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund, the country's finance minister said late on Monday.

Egypt has completed an ambitious reform program designed to overhaul its ailing economy, the minister Mohammed Moait said.

The program included austerity measures to meet requirements set by the IMF to qualify for a $12 bailout, which Egypt secured in 2016.

The IMF said in May that Egypt's efforts "in achieving macroeconomic stabilisation, a recovery in growth, and an improvement in the business climate" have been successful.

Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power in 2014, his government has enforced a strict austerity program designed to jump-start the economy.

The economy took a battering in the immediate aftermath of the revolution that ousted long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Direct foreign investment has grown to record levels but the country's debt and essential household costs have ballooned.

The government in May raised electricity rates by 15 percent as part of the belt-tightening measures under the IMF program.

Last week, Egypt's official statistics agency reported that one in three Egyptians are living in poverty.

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