Egypt expects to secure final approval to borrow $2.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund via a rapid financing facility next week, an official said, one of many African nations turning to the Washington-based lender as the coronavirus hits economies.

Authorities last month requested fresh assistance from the IMF under both a stand-by agreement and the so-called Rapid Financing Instrument, saying it was needed to shield the Middle East’s fastest-growing economy from the fallout of the pandemic.

A group of IMF staff is “in discussions with the authorities and expects to present the RFI request to the board on May 11,” said the IMF Mission Chief for Egypt Uma Ramakrishnan, without giving an estimate for the expected funding.

The stand-by agreement is a preemptive step that will last one year and be coupled with a sovereign bond issuance program to fend off any future gaps in Egypt’s current account, said the official, who gave the RFI figure and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

No figure was given for the stand-by deal with the Washington-based institution.

The IMF has already agreed a total of $10.4 billion in emergency coronavirus funding across the continent in recent weeks, from Nigeria -- Africa’s biggest economy -- to Kenya, Tunisia and Mozambique.

Egypt last year wrapped up a sweeping IMF-backed reform program which included a $12 billion loan and sought to rekindle investor interest after the 2011 uprising that ousted then President Hosni Mubarak.

The virus outbreak is putting pressure on some of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency such as tourism, remittances and Suez Canal receipts. The country needs to bridge a funding gap of around $10 billion by end of 2020, according to estimates from investment banks EFG Hermes and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Egypt’s net international reserves fell by a record $5.4 billion in March, as the central bank partially covered the pullback of overseas portfolio capital through its foreign-exchange repatriation mechanism, which guarantees investors can withdraw profits in hard currency. The reserves are now $40.1 billion, enough for about eight months of imports.

The North African country, which has offered one of the world’s most profitable carry trades for investors in debt, saw $13.5 billion outflows in March, when foreign holdings in local securities shrank almost by half.

Egypt “is right to utilize cheap IMF financing when it is available and when it comes with few or no conditions,” said Charles Robertson, the global chief economist at Renaissance Capital Ltd. “We think Egypt remains a good investment for bond funds globally and they will be reassured further by IMF involvement.”

The RFI will allow Egypt to “address any immediate balance of payments needs and support the most affected sectors and vulnerable groups of people,” the IMF said in a statement after the request last month.