Egypt currency float and IMF program

Years of political upheaval following the 2011 revolution, combined with a decline in tourism revenue and Suez Canal traffic, had left Egypt short of foreign currency and reliant on a black-market exchange rate far weaker than the official peg. In November 2016 the central bank floated the pound, which immediately lost roughly half its value, as part of a reform program that secured a $12 billion, three-year IMF loan. Inflation spiked above 30% in the following year as import prices rose, squeezing household budgets, but the float and accompanying fiscal reforms restored foreign-investor confidence and remittance and tourism flows recovered over the following years. Egypt returned to the IMF for further support during subsequent currency pressure in 2022-2024.