The negotiations between Egypt and IMF to be resumed in January 2012

Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandeel

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandeel made a speech on 30 December at the Cabinet meeting and announced that the negotiations between Egypt and International Monetary Fund are expected to be resumed in January 2013.

The talks with IMF over the loan which is needed for stabilizing Egyptian economy have been temporally suspended in November-December due to political turmoil and instability after Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsy has issued the controversial Constitutional Declaration on 22 November 2012. The declaration and the process of writing the Constitution by the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly cause the wave of protests in Egypt nationwide, thus the talks with the IMF have been postponed.

Egypt’s Prime Minister has announced though that the negotiations over the requested $ 4.8 billion loan will be resumed in January. In addition to that Prime Minister assured Egyptians that the state’s currency will not be floated and there is no threat of devaluation of Egyptian pound.

Regarding the issue of the taxes and their increasing Mr. Qandeel has also stated that the taxes will not be increased significantly and those changes will not touch the basic and vital commodities, such as bread or fuel.