Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement on disbursing the USD 2 bn tranche of its USD 12 bn Extended Fund Facility, Invest-Gate reports.

Completion of the IMF second review would make available about USD 2 bn for Egypt, bringing total disbursements under the USD 12 bn program to about USD 6 bn, the IMF said in a press release on Friday.

The disbursement agreement is subject to approval by the IMF’s executive board. Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.2% during fiscal year 2016/17, compared to the projected 3.5%, the IMF notes.

“Meanwhile, the current account deficit narrowed in dollar terms, supported by the increase in non-oil exports and tourism receipts while non-oil imports declined,” the statement says, adding that “portfolio investments into Egypt reached USD 16 bn this year and foreign direct investment rose by 13%”.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), according to the IMF statement, remains committed to achieve its goal of controlling inflation which is expected to decline to about 13% in the quarter ending December of 2018.