CAIRO, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Tuesday that the country's economy is set to recover from the current crisis in fiscal year 2024/2025.
In a televised press conference, Madbouly said Egypt's current economic indicators reflected positive momentum, noting the government targets to register an economic growth rate of 4.2 percent in 2025 and reduce the inflation to below 10 percent by the end of 2025.
Egypt's annual headline inflation dropped to 27.1 percent in June, down from 27.4 percent in May, continuing a downward trend for the fourth consecutive month, according to official statistics.
On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it has completed the third review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan program for Egypt, which allows the country to receive a tranche of 820 million U.S. dollars.
The tranche is part of an extended 8 billion U.S. dollars loan agreement finalized between Egypt and the IMF in March to help the country deal with the mounting impact of regional tensions on the macroeconomy.
The EFF loan arrangement started in December 2022 and is scheduled to conclude in September 2026, according to Egypt's Ministry of Finance.
Madbouly considered the completion of the IMF's third review of EFF loan arrangement a "vote of confidence" in Egypt.
Ensuring that the Egyptian citizens will feel the economic improvement, the Egyptian premier said, "Our vision is that by the end of 2026, we will not need to enter into another program with the International Monetary Fund."
Over the past two years, the U.S. dollar shortage in Egypt has led to the devaluation of the local currency and the rise of a parallel currency exchange market in the country, plunging Egypt into one of its worst economic crises.
The crisis was further exacerbated by the Israel-Hamas conflict that erupted last year, which has impacted Egypt's tourism sector and halved its revenues from the Suez Canal. ■