EGYPT’S 2022–2026 IMF ARRANGEMENT: A LEGALITY ASSESSMENT UNDER INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL LAW AND THE EGYPTIAN CONSTITUTION

Authors

  • Dr. Osama Abdelfattah
  • Dr. Osama Hamza Mahmoud Abdel Fattah

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52152/801773

Keywords:

IMF conditionality; structural adjustment; international institutional law; Egyptian Constitution; sovereign consent; economic governance; legitimacy of international agreements

Abstract

This paper examines Egypt’s 2022-2026 loan agreement with the IMF in order to establish, whether it (the agreement) is legally and democratically valid under international institutional law and under Egyptian Constitutional Law. The issue then is if any compatible limits placed on state sovereignty and local constitutional protections had been really maintained with respect to the Fund’s authority to interpret and enforce structural adjustment conditionality. Based upon the institutional grounding of IMF conditionality with Article 151 and Article 127 of Egypt’s Constitution, this article shows that compliance with IMF agreements is not merely procedural (international), but rather it entails active engagement in national constitutional supervision.

The paper focuses on the controversial IMF conditionalities, highlighting its nature and extent as well as the structural adjustment it enforces and its legitimacy in sovereign countries. It also highlights the tension between state acceptance and structural coercion of IMF loans, suggesting that legitimacy is a result of democratic accountability in the recipient country. Despite this, as the Egyptian example (like many others that have been through IMF programs) suggests, there is a broader problem that global financial governance, and particularly conditionality, is hard to square with domestic constitutional guarantees and sovereign rights.

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Published

2025-10-03

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Article

How to Cite

EGYPT’S 2022–2026 IMF ARRANGEMENT: A LEGALITY ASSESSMENT UNDER INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL LAW AND THE EGYPTIAN CONSTITUTION. (2025). Lex Localis - Journal of Local Self-Government, 23(S6), 269-288. https://doi.org/10.52152/801773