Egypt negotiating IMF for technical assistance – c.bank governor

Egypt is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for technical assistance on non-financial structural reforms, the country’s central bank governor Tarek Amer said on Tuesday.

Egypt has completed a three-year, $12 billion IMF Extended Fund Facility, signed in November 2016. The facility agreement required Egypt to implement some harsh reforms including, allowing its currency to weaken sharply, imposing a valued-added tax, and raising fuel prices to reduce its balance of payments budget and deficits.

Amer told an energy conference EGYPS in Cairo that Egypt wanted to cut down on bureaucracy to improve its investment climate.

The discussions with the Washington-based IMF fund are ongoing, he said.

The priority is to grow the economy to create jobs, Amer added, saying there was “still growth to go” for the country’s economy, but he gave no forecast.

Egypt’s economy is forecast to grow 5.9 percent in the year ending in June, the IMF said in its October report.

Earlier in October, Amer said Egypt was discussing possible further assistance from the IMF to help it implement structural reforms.

“We did fiscal reform and monitoring reform. Now we are doing structural reform. We are looking to see if the IMF can help on the subject of structural reform.”

“At a minimum is the post-programme monitoring in which the IMF continues with us as long as the loan is outstanding,” he added.

In November, Egypt’s Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said his country is looking to reach a new cooperation agreement with the IMF by next March.