Egypt’s stock exchange climbs 4.59% backed by IMF deal

Egypt’s stock exchange (EGX) climbed by more than 4 percent on Sunday as investors hailed a $5.2 billion standby loan agreement with the IMF designed to help the country grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.

The International Monetary Fund announced on Friday it had reached a staff-level agreement with Egypt for a one-year, $5.2 billion standby loan to help the North African country grapple with the novel coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.

Benchmark EGX 30 index jumped 4.59 percent to close at 11,108 points. The index has plummeted 18.8 percent this year, mainly due to the pandemic’s effect on the economy, including a shutdown of the tourism industry.