{"id":633805,"date":"2024-07-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2024\/07\/21\/imfs-third-review-will-take-place-as-scheduled\/"},"modified":"2024-07-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T00:00:00","slug":"imfs-third-review-will-take-place-as-scheduled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2024\/07\/21\/imfs-third-review-will-take-place-as-scheduled\/","title":{"rendered":"IMF\u2019s third review will take place as scheduled"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good afternoon, friends. <\/strong>We start the week with the continued drama of the IMF third review of the USD 8 bn program to Egypt.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORIES TODAY<\/p>\n

#1- IMF third review disappeared again from the fund\u2019s Executive <\/strong>Board\u2019s schedule:<\/strong> The IMF Executive Board has removed the third review of our USD 8 bn loan program from its schedule<\/a> for the second time earlier this morning.<\/p>\n

But the meeting could still take place on 29 July, <\/strong>a senior government source told Enterprise, adding that the discussions are still ongoing with the IMF to agree on some outstanding points about the new government\u2019s plan before the 29 July meeting.<\/p>\n

Remember:<\/strong> The IMF Executive Board was initially scheduled to discuss the third review on 10 July, before the Fund pushed the meeting to 29 July<\/a> to \u201cfinalize some details,\u201d according to IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack, who assured in a press briefing earlier this month<\/a> that these postponements are \u201cnot unusual in these kinds of circumstances.\u201d Once the fund\u2019s board approves the review, we\u2019ll be getting a fresh USD 820 tranche into the state coffers and will allow Egypt to apply for an additional USD 1.2 bn in climate finance. Egypt and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement<\/a> on the third review early last month.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s causing the holdup?<\/strong> The potential delay could be a means to give the fund more time to discuss the new government\u2019s program, including the gradual phasing out of subsidies, mechanisms to restore economic growth, improving the investment climate, reducing the budget deficit, and creating a wider space for the private sector, another government source suggested.<\/p>\n

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#2- <\/strong>D<\/strong>odging annoying spam calls may now be a thing of a past <\/strong>thanks to new regulations from the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) that require promotional callers to register with the database of Egyptian mobile operators, allowing people to receive spam alerts from their mobile carrier when they\u2019re receiving a promotional call, the NTRA said in a statement (pdf)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD<\/p>\n

Bangladesh\u2019s supreme court has <\/strong>rolled back<\/strong> a controversial government job <\/strong>quota<\/strong>, the reinstatement of which last month triggered a wave of civil unrest<\/a> across the country. Clashes between protestors, police, and supporters of the ruling party have seen over 100 killed.<\/p>\n

93% of gov\u2019t jobs now to be given on merit: <\/strong>The quota, originally struck down by the Supreme Court in 2018, allocated around a third of public sector jobs to descendents of veterans of the 1971 war of independence with Pakistan, and has been said to privilege supporters of incumbent prime minister Sheikh Hasina\u2019s Awami League. The top court\u2019s decision has drastically rolled back this allocation, stating that hiring for 93% of government jobs must be merit-based.<\/p>\n

The story got ink from:<\/strong> FT<\/a> | Reuters<\/a> | NYT<\/a> <\/p>\n

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