Egypt Forum 2026, a six-day national dialogue event, is scheduled to run from 19 to 24 October 2026, according to Egypt Independent and see.news. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the launch of preparatory sessions and an official registration website for the event on 1 October, when the Cabinet put the site, egyptforum.gov.eg, online.
Sisi called on state institutions, experts and Egyptians from across the political spectrum to register on the forum's website and submit their views and proposals ahead of the event, according to Egypt Independent and Egyptian Streets, which both reported the 1 October launch. The website is intended to let citizens, experts and specialists feed proposals into the forum's agenda before it convenes.
Egypt Forum 2026 is structured around a different theme on each of its six days, according to see.news. The published running order sets aside the first day for human development and capacity building, the second for integrated development and citizens' quality of life, and the third for social protection and community security. The fourth day, Thursday 22 October, is dedicated to the economy. The fifth day is given over to interactive workshops on public concerns raised through the registration platform, and the sixth is a closing session summarising the forum's outcomes.
See.news reported four session titles for the economy day: "Egypt's Energy Journey," "Productive Investment," "Foreign Exchange Resources and Debt Management," and "The Blueprint for Egypt's Economy Until 2030."
The forum's economy day falls as Egypt's four-year, $8 billion Extended Fund Facility arrangement with the International Monetary Fund nears its scheduled conclusion. The arrangement is due to expire on 15 December 2026, IMF communications director Julie Kozack said at a press briefing on 1 October, confirming that about $1.8 billion had already been disbursed following the completion of the programme's seventh review and a second review under its linked Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
Kozack said the IMF expects to complete the programme's eighth and final review, together with a third Resilience and Sustainability Facility review, during the fourth quarter of 2026, a step that would make roughly $2.3 billion more available to Egypt. No date for that final review had been set as of the 1 October briefing.
Egypt's foreign-currency reserves stood at $57.21 billion at the end of August 2026, according to a report published by see.news on 12 October on Egypt's position heading into this month's IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok. The same report cited an IMF projection of general government debt at 87 percent of gross domestic product for 2026, and average inflation of 13.2 percent for the year.
The Bangkok meetings, running from 12 to 18 October, are themselves a backdrop to the domestic forum: the IMF's update to its flagship World Economic Outlook report is scheduled for release on 13 October, in the middle of the same week Egypt Forum 2026's preparatory sessions are under way, according to see.news. Egypt's finance ministry and foreign ministry are following both tracks simultaneously, with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty attending the Bangkok meetings in his capacity as Egypt's governor to the World Bank, see.news reported.
Kozack's briefing also set out what the IMF is watching for in that final review, independent of the forum. She said the programme's remaining priorities include accelerated divestment of state-owned assets, implementation of a state-ownership policy, strengthened governance at state-owned enterprises and broader business-climate reforms, according to the IMF transcript. Those are the same categories of reform the government has said it wants Egypt Forum 2026 to generate public input on, though the two processes have not been formally linked in any of the sources reviewed.
The government has not said whether any conclusions from the economy day at Egypt Forum 2026 will feed into, or be affected by, the timing of the IMF's final review. The two processes are being run separately: the forum is a domestic consultation exercise organised by the Egyptian Cabinet, while the IMF review is conducted by the Fund's own staff and executive board.
Frequently asked questions
When is Egypt Forum 2026 scheduled to take place?
It is scheduled to run for six days, from 19 to 24 October 2026, according to Egypt Independent and see.news.
What topic is covered on the forum's economy day?
See.news reported that the fourth day of the forum, Thursday 22 October, is dedicated to the economy, as part of a programme that gives each of the six days a distinct theme: human development on day one, integrated development on day two, social protection on day three, the economy on day four, public-concern workshops on day five, and a closing session on day six. According to see.news, the economy day's four sessions are titled "Egypt's Energy Journey," "Productive Investment," "Foreign Exchange Resources and Debt Management," and "The Blueprint for Egypt's Economy Until 2030."
How can people take part in Egypt Forum 2026?
President Sisi invited state institutions, experts and members of the public to register and submit proposals through the forum's official website, egyptforum.gov.eg, which the Cabinet launched on 1 October, according to Egypt Independent and Egyptian Streets.
Why does the timing matter for Egypt's economy?
The forum's economy day falls while Egypt's $8 billion IMF Extended Fund Facility arrangement is approaching its scheduled 15 December 2026 expiry. The IMF's Julie Kozack said on 1 October that a final review, expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, could unlock a further $2.3 billion, though no date for that review had been set.
