Cairo: The Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) announced that a team of experts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Egyptian authorities have reached a staff level agreement on the fifth and sixth reviews under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement and the first review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

According to State Information Service Egypt, IFM team head Vladkova Hollar stated that stabilization efforts have made significant progress, with the Egyptian economy showing signs of growth. Economic activity increased to 4.4 percent in FY 2024/25, compared to 2.4 percent the previous year, driven by strong performance in non-oil manufacturing, transportation, finance, and tourism sectors.

The balance of payments has shown improvement, even with adverse external conditions. The current account deficit narrowed due to strong remittances and tourism receipts, alongside solid growth in non-oil exports.

Fiscal performance remained strong with a primary balance surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP in FY 24/25. Tax revenues grew significantly, although the tax-to-GDP ratio was modest by international standards, remaining at 12.2 percent of GDP for FY24/25. This was achieved through reforms aimed at widening the tax base, improving voluntary tax compliance, and streamlining exemptions.

The central bank of Egypt has continued a tight monetary policy, pursuing cautious and gradual monetary easing to support disinflation efforts.