IMF confirms increasing Egypt’s bailout loan to $8 billion

By SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — The executive board of the International Monetary Fund has confirmed a deal with Egypt to increase its bailout loan from $3 billion to $8 billion. The board said its decision would enable Egypt to immediately receive about $820 million as part of the deal that was announced earlier this month. It is meant to shore up the Arab country’s economy which is hit by a staggering shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation. The Egyptian economy has suffered from years of government austerity, the coronavirus pandemic, the fallout from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and most recently, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.