IMF says size of Egypt’s loan programme is still appropriate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that the size of Egypt’s $8 billion loan programme is “still appropriate”, and that it will assess as a priority how effective the country’s social protection programmes are.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned on Sunday his country may be forced to re-evaluate its expanded loan programme if international institutions do not take into account the extraordinary regional challenges the country is facing.

The support package, which Egypt signed with the IMF in March, requires it to reduce subsidies on fuel, electricity and other commodities and to allow its currency to float freely — measures that have triggered public fury.

The Fund said on Thursday that it was working with Egyptian authorities on what needed to be done to improve the outreach of the social protection program and make sure it was sufficient enough.

“This will be one of the priority issues that the managing director will raise and will discuss – how effective the social protection programs are,” Jihad Azour, the IMF director for the Middle East and Central Asia Department, said in a briefing.

Azour stressed on the importance for Egypt maintaining the flexibility of its currency’s exchange rate, also an IMF requirement for the loan.