The Central Bank of Egypt announced that Egypt had received the $2.77 billion loan that the International Monetary Fund agreed to grant to Egypt through the rapid financing tool, to meet the repercussions caused by the coronavirus.

The International Monetary Fund Director, Kristalina Georgieva, confirmed that this loan is not enough for the developing country to face the effects of the corona epidemic, expecting the fund to increase the amount in light of the decline in global growth rates.

The International Finance Institute asked for the fund to agree to lend Egypt $5.6 billion – about 200 per cent of its total stake in the fund – through stand-By agreements (SBA tool), so that the total value of loans expected to be obtained by Egypt from the International Monetary Fund is $8.4 billion.

The negative repercussions of the coronavirus epidemic affected the Egyptian economy, due to the significant decline in revenues of tourism, Suez Canal fees and remittances from workers abroad, which are the main sources of foreign exchange in the country.

The volume of external debt owed by Egypt increased to about $112.67 billion at the end of December 2019, compared to $96.61 billion at the end of December of 2018, achieving an increase of 16.6 per cent, amounting to $16.1 billion on an annual basis.