*Egyptian authorities are keen to highlight the progress the country has made over the last twelve months in enacting reforms required by its $8bn IMF loan agreement (MEES, 14 March). This IMF loan, agreed in March last year, has also helped unlock key foreign direct investment (FDI) from Egypt’s Gulf allies and appears to have given Egyptians working abroad the confidence to send more of their hard-earned money back home.
*Last year’s record $46.6bn FDI was largely driven by one project: the UAE’s $35bn planned Mediterranean resort of Ras el-Hekma (MEES, 17 May 2024). This skewed the numbers, with $40.5bn arriving in the Central Bank’s coffers in the first half of last year. That left just $6.0bn to be disbursed in the second half of 2024 according to latest Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) data, but if the Ras el-Hekma investment is excluded then FDI inflows were relatively stable through the year. (CONTINUED - 681 WORDS)
