The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made it a key condition for Egypt to offer 10 state-owned companies, including five military-affiliated ones, and two state banks for privatization by the end of May. This is a crucial step for Egypt to complete the seventh and eighth reviews of its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, paving the way for a $1.65 billion disbursement in June. This amount includes $136 million from the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, with another equal tranche expected in mid-November.
Egypt's government plans to accelerate these sales, with Banque du Caire and Bank of Alexandria, along with companies like Safi and Wataniya, slated for stock exchange offerings in April. The remaining companies are expected to follow in May. The overall goal for this accelerated privatization program is to raise approximately $5 billion, a revised target down from an earlier $6.5 billion, due to regional tensions impacting foreign investment. This strategy aims to meet the IMF's divestment requirements and address concerns about the slow pace of privatization.
In March 2026, the IMF approved the fifth and sixth reviews of Egypt's loan program, in addition to the first review of the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, which released $2.273 billion. Despite these approvals, the IMF has consistently expressed reservations regarding the slow progress of the privatization program and warned about increasing public debt. The loan program, initially signed in 2022, faced early challenges due to the IMF's objections to the Central Bank's intervention in exchange rates. The program was later expanded to $8 billion from $3 billion after the Egyptian pound was floated in March 2024.
The IMF has highlighted divestment as a primary indicator of Egypt's commitment to promoting private sector activity and reducing state economic involvement, crucial for debt reduction. As of December 2025, Egypt's divestment pipeline included 11 additional transactions in priority sectors, five military-owned companies, seven companies under the IPO program, and management concessions for 11 airports. These efforts, combined with a $3.5 billion land sale deal with Qatar for the Alam El Roum project, are still below the program's original $6.5 billion divestment target, though four divestment deals worth $1.5 billion are expected to close by the end of the state ownership policy.
