IMF‘s official delegation left Cairo after talks with Egypt’s government

IMF's Christine Lagarde and Egypt's Mohamed Morsy

The official delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Cairo on the weekend for the renewed talks with Egyptian government over the $4.8 billion financial aid which is needed for the restoring of Egypt’s struggling economy.

Egypt’s government and economists have developed and proposed the new economical program for the country which was worked out considering the recommendations of the IMF technical team which visited Cairo in autumn 2012.

The negotiations over the loan have been postponed due to the political instability and the tense situation in Egypt, but they have been renewed this weekend as the official IMF delegation came to Cairo.

The results of the current visits are seen as positive, according to the both sides.

I’d like to share here Ahram-Online’s article for more details on this issue. This article is published here.

IMF delegation leaves Cairo after 'constructive' loan talks

Loan discussions slated to continue 'over the coming weeks' to secure 'possible financial support' for Egypt, says senior IMF official

Ahram Online, Monday 18 Mar 2013

An International Monetary Fund [IMF] delegation left Cairo on Monday morning after day-long talks with the Egyptian government over a $4.8 billion loan which both parties portrayed as positive.

Discussions were based on a revised economic programme, suggested by the government, which involves more gradual measures to tackle Egypt's budget deficit than the programme it presented to the fund last November. The revised programme will "preserve growth rates, jobs, and protect the poor," the Egyptian government said.

Loan negotiations stalled in December after President Morsi's government failed to implement a stringent economic reform plan, including a raft of tax hikes, as part of its preliminary agreement with the fund.

"We've made very good progress, and we had very constructive discussions," said Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia department, after meeting Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil in Cairo.

"We agreed that our discussions would continue diligently over the coming weeks with the aim of reaching agreement on possible financial support from the IMF," added Ahmed, who headed the delegation which met with Central Bank of Egypt Governor Hisham Ramez, as well as Egypt's finance and planning ministers.

The IMF has offered Egypt emergency funding until it implements the reforms necessary to secure the larger $4.8 billion package, which might not happen until after the country's legislative elections.

Elections for Egypt's lower house of parliament, which was dissolved in June 2012, were scheduled to start on 22 April until a court ruled the electoral law to be unconstitutional, forcing the country's electoral commission to scrap its timetable.