VenturesNow

Egypt’s Central Bank Governor, Tarek Amer, resigns amidst country’s economic woes

Published

2 years ago

August 17, 2022

Ifeoluwa Dada

Amidst the country’s struggling economy, Egypt’s central bank governor, Tarek Amer resigned on Wednesday.

A local report by Al-Ahram says President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi has accepted Amer’s resignation.

Amer’s resignation came as the government is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a new loan to support its reform program and to help address challenges caused by the war in Europe.

In June, Egypt announced it could request as high as $500 million loan from the World Bank to support the government’s strong commitment to ensuring that the needs of citizens continue to be met even amid a very challenging global context caused by concomitant crises such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in July said it has had productive discussions with the North African country on another financial input.

No replacement has been announced for Amer was appointed the Central Bank governor in November 2015.

According to World bank report, Egypt undertook exchange rate, monetary and fiscal measures in response to adverse global developments (including soaring prices, tightening financial conditions and fading demand), aggravated by the war in Ukraine.

Not much seems to have been achieved despite the moves with soaring price of food and rising inflation currently at 13.6%. But how much can Amer’s resignation changed things for the North African country?

VenturesNow

IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

15 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.