Egypt starts to rebound after IMF bailout, ADQ resort investment

Egypt’s economy is growing at a pace it hasn’t seen since 2022 following last year’s IMF bailout and a massive investment from the UAE. 

GDP grew 4.3% year-on-year in the last three months of 2024, which the government attributed largely to the IMF’s $8 billion loan package and Abu Dhabi-owned ADQ’s $35 billion Ras El-Hekma resort project.

Egypt’s Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation pointed to tourism, trade-related transportation and non-oil manufacturing as the key drivers of economic expansion.

Private investment increased 35.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, while public investment contracted 25.7%. Tourism grew by 18% in the fourth quarter, with total visitors rising to 4.41 million

Still, the Egyptian economy suffered some major setbacks, including a 70% decline in revenue from the Suez Canal because of  “ongoing geopolitical tensions” and a 7.5% drop in income from oil production.

IMF green-lights $2.5 billion finance package for Egypt bailout

Egypt will get immediate access to some $1.2 billion that the International Monetary Fund approved after a review of the economic bailout program it undertook three years ago.

The IMF gave a green light on Monday to $2.5 billion in financing for Egypt, of which the other $1.3 billion is dedicated to spending on climate change and will be allocated in installments.

In a progress report on the 2022 rescue package, the IMF found “notable delays” on economic steps it mandated to “level the playing field.”

Still, it noted progress by the government and praised its “decisive action” over the past year on selling off state assets and maintaining a flexible currency exchange rate.