*Egypt raised the prices of all three grades of gasoline and diesel on 25 July as pressure from the IMF mounts on Cairo to enact painful yet necessary subsidy reform if it hopes to unlock further tranches of its newly renegotiated $8bn loan with the fund (MEES, 8 March). As part of the negotiations that secured this deal, Cairo pledged to adjust prices in line with a mechanism linked to Brent crude on the “last day of month after quarter end” (MEES, 3 May).
*The IMF has made subsidy reform a key pillar of its newly renegotiated loan agreement with Cairo and analysts had recently speculated that it was withholding the latest $820mn tranche until it saw more movement on the matter (MEES, 19 July). The IMF will be meeting on 28 July to vote on whether to release the cash and Cairo will be hoping this new move to raise prices will be enough to convince the fund that it is serious about subsidy reform. (CONTINUED - 470 WORDS)
