Egypt expects to receive $1.6 billion from IMF soon

CAIRO: Egypt expects to receive a $1.6 billion disbursal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by end-december, Finance Minister Mohamed Maiit said.

The IMF said earlier this month it had reached a staff-level agreement with Egypt ater the first review of a $5.2 billion financing agreement.

Egypt’ s current account deficit mushroomed in the April-june quarter to $3.83 billion from $1.09 billion a year earlier, according to calculations by Reuters based on central bank figures released on Monday.

Tourism revenue plummeted to $305 million during the quarter from $3.18 billion in April-june 2019, as the coronavirus wreaked havoc on the economy. Egypt stopped most international airline flights in mid-march as the pandemic gripped the world, before gradually reopening them in June.

Exports dropped to $5.42 billion from $7.58 billion while imports fell to $13.83 billion from $15.87 billion, causing the trade deficit to widen to $8.41 billion from $8.29 billion.

Suez Canal revenue, hurt by a fall in world trade since the pandemic, dipped to $1.34 billion from $1.46 billion, while remitances from Egyptians working abroad fell to $6.21 billion from $6.94 billion.

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped to $1.52 billion from $1.71 billion, while net porfolio investment plunged to $636.8 million from $3.18 billion as investors pulled money out of emerging markets.

“The current account deficit widened less than we had anticipated, as the non-oil trade deficit declined and the country recorded an oil trade surplus,” Allen Sandeep of Naeem Brokerage said.