The role of the IMF in the global financial architecture and in the Middle East more specifically, has been under scrutiny for a variety of reasons. From those who argue that it creates moral hazard among states to those who see the IMF’s conditionality as an infringement on a countries sovereignty. Both sides often argue that the prescribed policies do not have the intended consequences of turning debtor countries into thriving economies for its citizens. Lately calls for reform of the IMF have received additional attention due to the changing balance of power in global finance and monetary relations. The rise of China, its bilateral financial support and the new international institutions it has set up, have added to the new international reality in which the IMF has to operate. In addition, the Gulf monarchies with their sovereign wealth funds, have become larger and more assertive in their international financial operations. Their role in the Middle East has changed since 2011. It is therefore of interest to question in what way debtor countries, like Egypt, have seen their bargaining power change vis-à-vis the IMF and what repercussions this has had on the money flows from the IMF and the prescribed policies. Do we indeed witness less funds being drawn from the IMF by Egypt? Is the IMF less stringent with its conditionality and is it allowing Egypt more leeway in designing its policy response to an economic crisis? This article tries to address the point whether we see any shift in neoliberal policies applied by the IMF in Egypt. I argue that, despite the backlash against the IMF and the changing global context in which it operates, the Egyptian case shows that the position of the IMF has actually been strengthened, both in terms of the financial role the IMF plays as well as in terms of the neoliberal policies prescribed by the IMF. The key to understand this paradoxical position lies in the interplay between regional politics, the role of the Gulf states in the global financial world and the Egyptian domestic political economy. The regional geopolitical context determines the donors, while the domestic political economy situation influences the type of financial flows and how they change over time, especially after the fall of President Mubarak in 2011.