BNP Paribas has lowered its forecast for the value of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan that Egypt is seeking during its current negotiations.
The bank said in a report issued Wednesday, that it lowered its forecast for the value of the loan to between $3bn and $5bn instead of $10bn in a previous forecast.
Egypt is negotiating with the IMF on a new financing programme, on which an agreement is expected to be reached in the coming months.
BNP Paribas had expected in a report last July that Egypt would obtain a loan of about $10bn or more from the IMF to support its financing needs.
At the time, the bank justified that the loan would be to compensate for Egypt’s increased access to international bond and debt markets.
Egypt is facing pressures on the state’s general budget and the availability of foreign exchange, with the high costs of providing basic commodities and the exit of foreign investments from government debt instruments as a result of the repercussions of the Ukraine war and the global monetary tightening.
