IMF plans Egypt visit before US$8bn loan

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to pay Egypt a visit.

The visit which is concerning an $8 billion loan will be led by Kristalina Georgieva, the director of the global lender.

This is despite the fact that Egypt’s economy is projected to keep growing.

Despite projected economic growth in Egypt, the government is having difficulty meeting loan deadlines and goals.

The IMF director emphasised the importance of continuing economic reforms in Egypt.

The Egyptian government has admitted that it was having a difficult time meeting deadlines and goals on an US$8 billion loan programme with the IMF, owing to the regional challenges it is facing, Bloomberg reports.

The most prevalent aspect of this problem is the disruption of maritime trade by pirates.

Mostafa Madbouly, Egypt’s prime minister, noted that the country is facing “unprecedented” problems in the Middle East, specifically the drop in Suez Canal revenue brought on by Houthi terrorists attacks in the Rea sea.

As a result, the head of the Washington-based lender, Kristalina Georgieva, would be in the North African country within the next ten days.

“We have been very open to adjust the Egyptian program or any any other program to what is best to serve the people,” the director relayed to the media.

She noted that reforms to the Egyptian economy must continue to be implemented. “Egypt is better served by undertaking reforms sooner rather than later,” she said.

“We are not going to do our job for the country and for the people of the country if we pretend that action that needs to be taken can be forgone,” she added.

A recent Reuters poll, revealed that the Northern African country is prime for more economic growth.

The poll showed that the year ending June 2025 will see Egypt’s economic growth increase past 4 percent.

“The median forecast in the Oct. 9-23 Reuters poll of 13 economists predicted gross domestic product (GDP) growth would then accelerate to 4,7 percent in 2025/26 and 5,3 percent by 2026/27,” Reuters revealed. – Business Insider Africa