The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, which began its visit to Egypt on May 18, 2026, criticized the government for merely listing 16 state-owned companies on the stock exchange without carrying out any actual offerings so far, according to a source at the Ministry of Finance briefed on the talks.
The source, who asked not to be named, told Al Manassa that the government justified the delay in implementing the asset privatization program by citing regional tensions caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, arguing that these conditions could adversely affect the success of any stock market offering and its ability to attract the maximum number of investors.
The IMF mission is currently conducting the seventh review of the loan agreement signed with Egypt in 2022, the implementation of which faltered during the dollar crisis before the Fund agreed to resume it in 2024 amid the repercussions of the genocide in Gaza.
The source added that the mission is expected to conclude its work in Egypt on May 21, noting that “despite reservations regarding the government’s privatization plans and divestment from economic activities, the government expects the Fund to approve the review.”
Throughout the program’s duration, the IMF has insisted on expanding privatization as a means of raising foreign currency and reducing the state’s role in the economy, but implementation has consistently fallen short of targets. In the fifth and sixth reviews, the Fund stated that progress on divestment fell short of the commitments the government made when the program was approved.
The remaining months of 2026 represent the IMF’s last opportunity to press for broader implementation of its program in Egypt, with the eighth and final review expected to take place in November.
The current mission’s visit coincided with renewed government pledges to offer 10 companies, including two owned by the Armed Forces, before the end of the year. However, the government had previously frozen several deals, either because the restructuring of the companies to prepare them for sale had not been completed, or because it had not received suitable offers from investors.
A senior source in the Cabinet, who also asked not to be named, told Al Manassa that the government currently has no plans to request a new loan from the Fund, explaining that it had been considering this option at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, before shelving the idea as the conflict’s repercussions gradually subsided.
The IMF’s pressure to accelerate privatization appears to be having less impact at the moment, after the Executive Board approved the two previous reviews and agreed to disburse the loan tranche despite its reservations about the slow pace of the privatization program.
The source at the Ministry of Finance said that the government remains willing to proceed with privatization in the coming months, provided that macroeconomic indicators improve, allowing the government to secure the best possible bids for the assets being offered.
