Egypt is set to receive roughly 2.5 billion US dollars from the International Monetary Fund after the fund reached a staff-level agreement on the fifth and sixth reviews of its Extended Fund Facility programme, Reuters reports.

The IMF combined the two reviews to give Egyptian authorities more time to meet critical targets under the loan arrangement. In addition, the fund reached a staff-level agreement on the first review of Egypt’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility, potentially unlocking a further 1.3 billion US dollars. Both agreements are pending approval from the IMF’s executive board.

The North African nation agreed to the expanded 8 billion US dollar, 46-month loan in March 2024 amid high inflation and foreign currency shortages. Since then, authorities have made measurable progress stabilising the economy. Urban consumer inflation, which reached 38 percent in September 2023, fell to 12.3 percent in November.

Foreign currency pressures have also eased, supported by IMF funds, record tourism receipts, remittances from Egyptians working abroad, and investment agreements with Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, worth tens of billions of dollars.

“Stabilisation efforts have delivered important gains, and the Egyptian economy is showing signs of robust growth,” said IMF Mission Chief for Egypt Vladkova Hollar.

The fund noted that structural reforms remain incomplete, particularly the divestment of state-owned assets, a central component of the loan programme. Legislative amendments ratified in August were intended to accelerate this process. Hollar said further efforts are needed to reduce the state’s role in the economy and create a level playing field.

To date, the IMF has disbursed around 3.5 billion US dollars under the Extended Fund Facility, according to Reuters calculations.