Egypt is set to receive on Thursday the second tranche of $1.25 billion from a $12 billion loan from the IMF, state-run MENA news agency reported, quoting sources in the Central Bank of Egypt. The United States Embassy in Cairo has expressed its support for the IMF board vote to disburse the tranche. In a series of tweets on their twitter page, the US embassy said that Washington is proud to support the IMF's approval of the second tranche, which aims to support Egypt's growing economy, adding that US companies are investing in Egypt and helping create jobs and exports in the country. In May, the IMF staff team and Egyptian authorities reached a staff-level agreement on the first review of Egypt's economic reform programme. The staff level agreement is subject to approval by the IMF's executive board. Last month, Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy told Reuters that the tranche was delayed due to bank procedures and the completion of IMF executive board meetings, but that there were no obstacles to Egypt obtaining the loan. The $1.25 billion disbursal, which completes the first $4 billion loan tranche, was initially expected at the end of June.
