Regarding the recent issuance of Panda Bonds, the deputy minister stated that expected proceeds will be directed to green investments
Egypt is in advanced stages in its negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with an announcement for the date of the first review coming soon, explained Ahmed Kouchouk, Deputy Minister of Finance for Financial Policies, to media earlier today.
Regarding the recent issuance of Panda Bonds, the deputy minister stated that expected proceeds will be directed to green investments. On Monday, Egypt successfully issued panda bonds worth 3.5 billion yuan (approx. $500 million).
Kouchouk’s comments come less than a week after Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, revealed that Egypt expects new dates for the reviews of its $3 billion loan from the IMF to be announced before the end of October.
The IMF has postponed 2 separate reviews so far since March, which has led to around $700 million in delayed loan tranches for Egypt, citing concerns over the implementation of certain conditions laid out by the fund.
During last week’s IMF and World Bank annual meetings, IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva praised Egypt’s progress on multiple levels including privatization and public finance.
IMF director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, Jihad Azour, explained that the IMF and Egypt “are combining the first and the second review and when we get there, it means that strong progress has been achieved”.
Egypt is allegedly seeking an increase in its loan, with Bloomberg reporting earlier this week that the government is in discussion with the IMF to raise the loan to $5 billion.
