Description: RECENT - WASHINGTON DC 1. Wide shots, IMF building exterior. April 1, 2024, WASHINGTON DC 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivanna Vladkova Hollar, IMF’s Mission Chief to Egypt “On Friday, March 29th, the IMF Executive Board completed the first and second reviews of the Extended Fund Facility for Egypt and approved an augmentation of the original program by about $5 billion to $8 billion in total. This decision allows the authorities to immediately draw the equivalent of about $820 million. The Egyptian authorities have put together a strong economic stabilization plan to correct imbalances, some elements of which plan are already under implementation. This economic stabilization plan is centered on a liberalized foreign exchange system in the context of a flexible exchange rate regime, a significant tightening of both fiscal and monetary policy to support the adjustment in the exchange rate, a reduction in public investment broadly defined, and the implementation of reforms that would allow the private sector to become the engine of growth,” 3. Wide shot, journalists speaking. 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivanna Vladkova Hollar, IMF’s Mission Chief to Egypt “On exchange rate policy and the normalization of access to FX and the functioning of the FX market in such a way that, the price of foreign exchange is determined on the basis of market conditions and available to private sector firms and to individuals. This is an important reform that needs to be sustained. It's not a one-off reform. It's important for a liberalized foreign exchange system in the context of a flexible exchange rate to continue and therefore, going forward, at each individual review, the expectation is that the conditions that we're seeing now in the market, are going to continue to hold in the sense that we will not see a return to a system of FX rationing and lack of FX availability,” 5. Wide shot, press officer speaking. 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivanna Vladkova Hollar, IMF’s Mission Chief to Egypt “Egypt has indeed requested access under this long-term facility to address climate policies. And as a reminder, in order to proceed with and qualify for access under the RSF, member countries need to have in place a strong set of policies that, are intended to address the risks from climate change. We expect to start discussing these policies with the authorities at the time alongside of the third review, which, as we've discussed, will happen, in the next three months. And, of course, just like any other program approval the authorities request will be subject to approval by the executive Board,” RECENT – Washington, DC