Egypt—Macro-Economic Stabilization and Reform (MESR)

Recent years have seen the Egyptian economy struggle to stabilize, with weak economic governance at the macro and microeconomic levels, contributing to distortions that have hampered private sector growth and dampened Egypt’s economic development. The recent devaluation of the Egyptian pound has helped encourage foreign direct investment and increased exports, but there remain macroeconomic issues, such as the public debt and high inflation, that continue to inhibit economic growth in Egypt.

The Macro-Economic Stabilization and Reform (MESR) project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, addresses Egypt’s macroeconomic challenges, assists with implementing reforms expected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and sets the stage for broad-based economic growth and achievement of the Sustainable Development Strategy 2030. The IMF’s arrangement under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with Egypt creates a sense of urgency for reforms and encourages government champions to take ownership. Complementing the EFF arrangement, MESR focuses on human capacity building and institutional development to promote sustainability of reforms and empowers government staff to improve capital investment processes and the effectiveness of public finance systems.

MESR also works with the Government of Egypt to analyze, monitor, and evaluate the impact of public investments and economic policies on men and women, while ensuring that women are well represented in training and capacity development efforts, engaged in economic policy dialogue, and prepared for managerial and leadership opportunities. While ambitious in its expected results, MESR comes at a critical time for Egypt and provides invaluable technical assistance to support macroeconomic stabilization.

Sample Activities

• Review outstanding capital investment projects and incorporate lessons learned from this initiative into the development of a standardized appraisal methodology.
• Develop cross-sector, spatial, and gender analysis tools to improve decision support for project appraisals.
• Analyze and assess different forms of alternative financing schemes.
• Conduct legal and regulatory review of the public investment landscape.
• Develop and conduct training to build capacity for planning and monitoring units in government entities.

Select Results

• Supported the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development to publish the country’s first Gender-Responsive Sustainable Development Planning Manual.
• Trained the media and communications units of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development to communicate their work more effectively through various media platforms. MESR provided the units with in-house video production units, laptops specialized in handling video editing software, cameras, lighting, audio, and mobile journalism equipment.