Egypt made ‘significant progress’, deeper structural reforms needed

Segura-Ubiergo made the remarks during a seminar hosted by the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies (ECES) ahead of the IMF mission’s visit in October for talks on completing the fifth and sixth reviews of the country’s $8 billion loan programme.

He said inflation had eased from nearly 40 percent in 2023 to 12 percent today, while foreign reserves, tourism revenues, remittances, and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have strengthened the external position.

He praised fiscal discipline, stronger revenues, and reforms that cut customs clearance times from two weeks to one, with a plan to reduce that further to two days. Similar progress in tax and construction permits, he argued, could improve Egypt’s competitiveness rankings.

Segura also stressed the importance of expanding social protection programmes such as Takaful and Karama until jobs are created, emphasizing that the IMF “does not recommend raising prices but rather supports continued disinflation.”

In June, the IMF cut Egypt’s growth forecast for FY2025-26 to 4.1 percent, citing delays in structural reforms.