Egyptian Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy has announced that he is holding some meetings with a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in London in order to review and discuss Egypt’s economic performance and indicators ahead of the planned IMF delegation visit to Egypt in April in order to release the second tranche of the loan, according to Reuters.
On 11 November, the IMF’s executive board approved the $12bn, three-year extended fund facility (EFF) for Egypt in order to finance Egypt’s economic reform programme. The first tranche of $2.75bn has already been received following the approval, with the loan repayment taking place over 10 years at an interest rate of 1-1.5%.
“We will hold some meetings with various banks to discuss several issues, including investment in treasury bills and bonds,” said El-Garhy.
Foreign investments in treasury bills and bonds following the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) decision to float the currency on 3 November 2016 have been on the rise. Foreign investments in governmental debt tools registered at around $633m, El-Garhy previously stated in February.
Moreover, the Economic Affairs Committee is to review within two weeks the fiscal year 2017/18 budget indicators, which are expected to exceed the EGP 1tn mark as a result of the flotation, as well as the stamp duty on stock market transactions, which was proposed in March to start with 0.125% in the first year and to be increased gradually to reach 0.175% in the third year of application, said El-Garhy.
