IMF assures Rapid Financing Instrument, RFI, supports for Egypt

&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Ms&period; Kristalina Georgieva&comma; Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund &lpar;IMF&rpar;&comma; after a satisfactory timely implemented measures by the Central Bank of Egypt to support the domestic economy&comma;  has assured IMF’s supports for   Egypt to address  immediate balance of payments needs and support the most affected sectors and vulnerable groups of people in the COVID-19 outbreak through Rapid Financing Instrument&period;<&sol;em><&sol;strong> <strong><em>Kristalina Georgieva’s statement&comma; made available to OpenLife by IMF media office&comma; explains details of the financial arrangement as reproduced below<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Like many countries around the world&comma; Egypt’s &nbsp&semi;economy has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak&comma; the related global recession&comma; and financial markets turmoil&period; President El Sisi and his Government have responded quickly and decisively with measures to limit its spread and provide support to affected people and businesses&period; The Central Bank of Egypt has also implemented timely measures to support the domestic economy&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;To support these efforts and contain the economic and financial impact of the pandemic&comma; the Central Bank and the Government of Egypt have requested financial assistance from the IMF under the Fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument &lpar;RFI&rpar; and a Stand-By Arrangement &lpar;SBA&rpar;&period; The emergency financing under the RFI will allow the government to address any immediate balance of payments needs and support the most affected sectors and vulnerable groups of people&period; I expect the request for the RFI to be presented to the IMF’s Executive Board within the next few weeks&period;”&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;My staff is also working with the Egyptian government to support its strong set of macroeconomic policies through an SBA&period; We fully support the government’s aim to safeguard the significant gains made under the successfully completed three-year Extended Fund Facility last year&period; This comprehensive package of financial support&comma; if approved&comma; would help strengthen confidence in the Egyptian economy&comma; make further progress to protect the most vulnerable and provide the basis for a strong economic recovery&period; It would also help accelerate Egypt’s reform efforts aimed to support broad-based&comma; job-rich and sustainable growth&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;