Egypt has received $2.77 billion in emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund, its state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a senior central bank source.
The IMF had had approved the funds on Monday in an effort to help Egypt to contend with the new coronavirus pandemic that has brought tourism to a standstill and triggered capital flight.
The emergency funding will help finance "targeted and temporary spending, aimed at containing and mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic," First Deputy Managing Director Geoffrey Okamoto said.
However, he cautioned that Cairo will need "additional expeditious support from multilateral and bilateral creditors ... to close the remaining balance of payments gap, ease the adjustment burden, and preserve Egypt's hard-won macroeconomic stability."
The emergency funds come from the Washington-based crisis lender's Rapid Financing Instrument, which has been ramped up to get aid quickly to developing nations most vulnerable to the economic effects of shutdowns to contain the outbreak.
Egypt has suffered 525 COVID-19 fatalities with 9,400 cases.
The country has gradually started to reopen after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government has loosened a strict curfew for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in an effort to kickstart North Africa's largest economy.
Having shuttered shops and cafes in late March and forced millions of civil servants to stay home, it is slowly reversing some of these measures, bringing back many state workers and extending the trading hours of shops and malls.
