The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday a mission has been in Egypt this week to hold talks aimed at reaching a staff-level agreement on the country's economic programme.
A draft is to be presented to the IMF's executive board for approval by mid-December.
Cairo entered into a 46-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme with the IMF in December 2022. It was supposed to expire in October but has been extended until December 15, 2026.
Egypt embarked on its Resilience and Sustainability Framework (RSF) with the fund in 2025.
IMF communications director Julie Kozack said the purpose of the visit was to reach a staff-level agreement for the executive board's approval before the EFF expires.
“We have a mission in the field right now discussing the reviews, the programme,” she told a news conference.
Ms Kozack said the final disbursement would be roughly $2.3 billion.
The fund in July completed the seventh review of Egypt's EFF and the second of its RSF programme, which allowed authorities to unlock roughly $1.8 billion in funding at the time. That brought total purchases and disbursements under the two arrangements to about $7.3 billion.
Ms Kozack said discussions this week were focused on maintaining a tight monetary policy and a fiscal consolidation plan with the overall aim of preserving Egypt's macroeconomic stability.
Beyond the macroeconomic measures, structural reforms will remain a central topic of discussion with the intention of reducing the state's economic footprint, she said.
“The goal of these reforms is to support stronger, more private sector-led growth in Egypt,” Ms Kozack said.
Ms Kozack said priorities remain to accelerate Egypt's divestment programme, implement state ownership policy, level the playing field between public and private sector companies, and improve the business climate.
The fund has previously pointed to Egypt as a positive example of how countries can undertake reforms. The IMF said its strong macroeconomic buffers, flexible exchange rate and swift policy response had helped it absorb the effects of the Iran war.
The IMF expects Egypt's economy to pick up from 4.4 per cent last year to 5.1 per cent this year, before easing to 4.7 per cent in 2027, according to its World Economic Outlook released this month. Consumer prices are forecast to east from 12.1 per cent in 2025 to 9.4 per cent in 2026, before climbing to 11 per cent next year.
