8 billion loan agreement between IMF and Egypt

Egypt agreed with the International Monetary Fund on more than doubling its rescue program to $8 billion.

The initial loan negotiated, as part of a rescue package, was for $3 billion. According to sources close to the IMF, this loan agreement seeks to preserve the exchange rate system, support the private sector in Egypt and fill the country’s rising financing gap.

Egypt today increased its key interest rate to a record 27.25%, causing the Egyptian pound to fall by more than a third of its value against the dollar. The goal is to try to curb inflation and the worst economic crisis in its history.