Egyptian Minister of Planning, Hala Al-Saeed, revealed that Egypt's talks with the International Monetary Fund on a loan on concessional terms aimed at helping to overcome the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic, pointing out that the talks will focus on Egypt carrying out structural reforms to remove restrictions on private sector companies.
The one-year IMF program will help bridge any payment gaps companies face as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Al-Saeed pointed out that "the 2016 program was focusing more on the financial and monetary side, after the success of the first stage of the reform, we are continuing the structural reform program", stressing that "Egypt was already working on structural reforms before the pandemic, and identified six priorities, including digital transformation, industry, and agriculture and logistics."
She explained that "This structural reform mainly focuses on increasing the participation of the private sector, where all obstacles that may face the participation of the private sector will be discussed with the fund."
A Bloomberg report had revealed that Egypt would seek another $5 billion from the International Monetary Fund and $4 billion from other sources, bringing the total to $9 billion.
Source (Al-Rai Newspaper-Kuwait, Edited)
