IMF’s $1.25B to reach coffers in 48 hours: CBE source

CAIRO – 16 July 2017: The second tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which amounts to $1.25 billion, will reach state reserves in 48 hours, a high-ranking official at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said Sunday.

The tranche will push the foreign reserves at the CBE to above $32 billion, the source, who requested to remain anonymous, told Egypt Today.

The IMF approved, on Thursday, the disbursement of the second tranche worth $1.25 billion of Egypt's $12 billion loan.

Egypt’s foreign reserves registered $31.130 billion by the end of June, according to the CBE.

The approval followed the completion of the IMF 's Executive Board’s first review of Egypt’s economic reform program that was supported by an arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), IMF said in a statement.

Moreover, Egypt's Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said in a Thursday statement that the ministry is coordinating with the IMF to transfer the funds to the accounts of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) within days.

"The government and the central bank have taken the right measures to rein in inflation, reduce the budget deficit, and set the Egyptian economy on a path to stability and growth," Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF, said praising Egypt's reforms' program.

In November, Egypt received the first funding installment of $2.75 billion of the loan approved in favor of Egypt in 2016.