IMF awards Egypt $820mln for government's 'corrective' actions

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
30 Mar 2024 12:33
1 Shares

The IMF has made available additional funds for Egypt's use after neoliberal reforms were made by the govenrment.

The logo of the International Monetary Fund is seen on its building in Washington, the United States, on April 5, 2021. (AP)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has allowed Egypt to withdraw $820 million in financial support after the IMF's Executive Board completed the first and second reviews of the country's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement.

The IMF augmented the program by $5 billion, raising its total to $8 billion, which has allowed Cairo to immediately draw $820 million.

Back in December 2022, the IMF and Egypt agreed to the 46-month EFF program. Although Cairo failed to meet one of the quantitative clauses for June 2023, the IMF granted a waiver for the Net International Reserves criterion, citing the Egyptian government's corrective actions as the motive to do so.

It is worth noting that the financial influx provided to Egypt comes in the form of loans to be repaid at a later period.

IMF, World Bank, UAE mask Egypt's socioeconomic crisis

The work of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank and the IMF have been instrumental in concealing the extreme levels of poverty that were induced as a result of neoliberal restructuring.

The case is such in Egypt where policies of restructuration, spurred by the IMF, have decimated the productive capacities of the working classes by shifting the economy from industrial to merchant capitalism, plunging many into poverty.

The World Bank also announced earlier in March that it would inject $6 billion into the Egyptian economy. That package comprises of "US$3 billion for financial support to government’s programs and $3 billion for the private sector."

Most recently, the United Arab Emirates signed a whopping $35 billion deal with Egypt for the development of the Ras El-Hekma peninsula on the Mediterranean coast. The statement released by the IMF on Saturday makes mention of the investment, however, it says that structural changes at the macroeconomic level are still needed.