IMF Urges Egypt to Speed Up Privatization Amid Review Talks

The International Monetary Fund urged Egypt to accelerate a long-running plan to divest from state assets, a cornerstone of an $8 billion program that helped the North African nation emerge from its worst crisis in decades.

Progress in privatizations “can be accelerated and needs to be accelerated,” Jihad Azour, the fund’s director for the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, said in an interview in Dubai. This would help reduce debt levels, but also support job creation and growth, while attracting foreign investment to Egypt, he said.