Egypt: End-of-Mission Statement on First and Second EFF-Review
IMF News, February 1, 2024
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Egypt: End-of-Mission Statement on First and Second EFF-Review
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Published: February 1, 2024
Main findings and agreements
- The IMF mission "made excellent progress on the discussions of a comprehensive policy package needed to reach a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) for the combined first and second reviews of Egypt’s economic reform program supported by the IMF."
- "The IMF team and the Egyptian authorities have agreed on the main policy elements of the program."
- The authorities "expressed a strong commitment to act promptly on all critical aspects of Egypt’s economic reform program."
- The IMF team and the authorities "also agreed on the critical importance of strengthening social spending to protect vulnerable groups."
Social protection and distributional focus
- Strengthening social spending to protect vulnerable groups is identified as critical.
- Objective: ensure adequate living conditions for low and middle-income households "that have been hit particularly hard by rising prices."
Financing and next steps
- The mission and the authorities will continue discussions virtually "over the coming days" to:
- finalize the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), and
- identify the magnitude of additional support from the IMF and other bilateral and multilateral development partners needed to help close Egypt’s increased financing gaps in the context of recent shocks.
Tone and acknowledgments
- The mission expressed gratitude: "The mission would like to thank the authorities for their warm hospitality and constructive dialogue".
International Monetary Fund