Egypt to receive 1st tranche of IMF loan next week: PM

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced on Saturday that Egypt is set to receive the inaugural installment of an 8-billion-dollar expanded loan program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week.

Speaking at an industrial zone near Cairo, Madbouly added that Egypt is working on increasing dollar resources by supporting industry and export.

The IMF had previously approved a 3-billion-dollar, 46-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement for Egypt in late 2022, aimed at supporting its economic reforms. However, the relevant first and second reviews were delayed.

On Friday, the IMF said its executive board has completed the first and second reviews of Egypt's 3-billion-dollar EFF arrangement and approved an additional 5-billion-dollar funding, noting this enables Egypt to immediately draw about 820 million dollars.

Egypt has recently seen a large foreign cash inflow after it signed in February a 35-billion-dollar investment deal with the United Arab Emirates to develop a new resort city, Ras Al-Hekma, on Egypt's northern coast.

Earlier in March, the World Bank said it intends to provide more than 6 billion dollars "to support Egypt's development and reform efforts," while the European Union announced it will provide a financial package of 7.4 billion euros (about 8 billion dollars) to bolster the Egyptian economy.

Over the past two years, the dollar shortage in Egypt has led to the devaluation of the local currency and the rise of a parallel market in the country, plunging Egypt into one of its worst economic crises.

The crisis was further exacerbated by the Israel-Hamas conflict that erupted last October, which has impacted Egypt's tourism sector and halved its revenues from the Suez Canal.

In February, Egypt's annual urban consumer price inflation surged to 35.7 percent, significantly exceeding market expectations.