Egyptian economy is ready to accommodate the largest foreign direct investments, said International Monetary Fund's director for the Middle East and Central Asia Department on Friday. On the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank 2019 meetings in Washington, Jihad Azour praised Egypt's economic reforms tied to a three-year, $12 billion loan programme with the IMF agreed in late 2016 and which has been disbursed in full. Given the successful implementation of the programme, Egyptian economy is now ready to accommodate the largest foreign investments, Azour told reporters. However, the IMF official stressed the crucial role of the private sector in Egypt as it takes the lead in attracting larger amounts of foreign direct investments. Egypt has made a significant progress in achieving macroeconomic stabilization with fiscal situation improving, foreign currency reserves reaching an all-time high, and inflation gradually declining expected to reach 4-5 percent at the end of the current financial year, Azour said. As inflation declines, domestic interest rates are also expected to come down, which would help the government to strengthen social protection programmes to cushion the impact of the adjustment on low-income households, he added.
