Georgieva to meet with Egypt, Tunisia, confident of IMF ‘backing them up’

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said she would meet on Saturday with delegations from Egypt and Tunisia and was confident the global lender would be “backing them up.”

Georgieva said the IMF had provided about $90 billion to 16 countries since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, but still had $700 billion of lending capacity and was now seeing a larger number of countries seeking help.

The fund was currently examining abut 28 requests for IMF financial assistance, including those from Egypt and Tunisia, adding that the IMF was also looking for other ways to provide funding to countries in need.

“I’m actually today going to be meeting with delegations of Egypt and Tunisia, countries where I am confident that you will see us backing them up in this difficult time,” Georgieva told a banking seminar during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

Georgieva told reporters on Friday that the IMF and Egypt had resolved all “big policy issues” in their discussions on a new lending program, but were still working on smaller technical details.

Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maiit told local TV in Egypt that he expected his country to sign an IMF deal “very soon” to help stem a currency crisis that has restricted imports and sparked market unease over foreign debt repayments.

He previously told local media that Egypt could expect just $3-$5 billion. One person familiar with the matter said the package would likely be at the lower end of this range.

Tunisia, which is suffering its worst financial crisis, last month said it expects to reach an agreement with the IMF in coming weeks on a loan of between $2 billion and $4 billion over three years to save its public finances from collapse.

IMF officials had no immediate comment on the timing of Georgieva’s meetings with officials from both countries.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by David Gregorio)