IMF Rapprochement May Lift Egypt’s Stock Market Today

Egypt’s stock market may react positively on Sunday to news that the Cairo government will invite an International Monetary Fund mission to visit.

Egypt will ask the IMF for a long-delayed economic assessment in the hope of improving the country’s image before a February investment conference, the country’s finance ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The assessment will not necessarily lead to an IMF loan deal, but it is key to maintaining working relations with the global lender and could provide the government with valuable feedback and recommendations.

It is also another step towards rehabilitating Egypt in the eyes of many Western investors. Egypt has not held Article IV consultations, in which IMF experts assess a country’s financial and economic state of affairs, since March 2010.

Source: Reuters