Washington, US– International Monetary Fund and Egyptian authorities have agreed to finalize their work to reach a Staff-Level Agreement very soon, the IMF has said.
Director of Communications at the IMF Gerry Rice said in a statement that “IMF staff and the Egyptian authorities have held very productive in-person discussions on the margins of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings and made substantial progress on all policies”.
He said, “The implementation of the authorities’ comprehensive structural reform agenda would gradually enhance the competitiveness of the economy, reduce the role of the state in the economy, level the playing field for the private sector, improve the business climate and foster transition towards a greener economy.”
The two sides are still in the process of determining the Egyptian exchange rate policies, as the IMF said in March that Egypt should pursue continued exchange rate flexibility to absorb external shocks and safeguard financial buffers, Egyptian media reports said.
In July, the IMF said hat Egypt needed to make “decisive progress” on fiscal and structural reform to foster private sector development and reduce the role of the state.
Egypt’s Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, has said that the government is on track to make the Egyptian pound exchange rate more flexible if necessary, and that the surge of the US dollar is putting pressure on all world currencies.
