The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has accepted a request from Egypt for just under USD 2.8 billion worth of emergency financial aid to ease the strain of the COVID-19 crisis. Aiming to achieve macroeconomic stability, the aid is intended to be channeled into the country’s social protection and health as well as to provide aid to the most affected groups.

According to the official IMF press release, “Egypt achieved a remarkable turnaround prior to the COVID-19 shock, carrying out a successful economic reform program supported by the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility to correct large external and domestic imbalances.”

Geoffrey Okamato, First Deputy Managing Director and acting Chair of the IMF, added that, “the authorities acted swiftly to allocate resources to the health sector, provide targeted support to the most severely impacted sectors, and expand social safety net programs to protect the most vulnerable. Similarly, the Central Bank of Egypt adopted a broad set of measures, including lowering the policy rate and postponing repayments of existing credit facilities.”

The IMF hopes that these measures will ultimately increase the role of the private sector by promoting growth within it and making it more inclusive in providing jobs, which will hopefully unlock the country’s economic growth and resilience.