Egypt may receive second tranche of IMF loan in June: minister

The International Monetary Fund is likely to release the second tranche of a $12 billion loan by June, Minister of Finance Amr el-Garhy told reporters on Wednesday.

An IMF delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday to review Egypt’s progress with the reforms, a condition for the multilateral lender to disburse the second tranche of a $12 billion loan programme agreed in November.

“So far, the review is going well; it asserts that the government’s economic reform programme is in accordance with the IMF’s vision.” el-Garhy added.

The reforms include a raft of measures including loosening capital controls, ending energy subsidies, reforming public enterprises and overhauling monetary policy in a bid to restore economic stability and long-term growth.

Egypt agreed in November on a three-year loan deal with the IMF, which involved tough economic reforms such as narrowing its budget deficit and letting the Egyptian pound float freely in the exchange market.

Egypt received the first tranche of $2.75 billion on November 12.