23 Feb 2013
(MENAFN) Egypt planning minister Ashraf El Araby said recently the government planned to invite a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within one week, signalling readiness for talks over a USD4.8 billion loan much needed to revive the ailing economy, the National newspaper reported.
Egypt reached an initial agreement with the IMF on the loan in November. However a final approval was delayed a month later on behest of the Egyptian government because of political unrest at the time.
Egypt direly needs the cash to avert an impending liquidity crisis and to patch a gaping budget deficit.
El Araby said the government was confident a deal could be struck with the IMF before parliamentary elections, whose date has yet to be fixed.
His comments indicated the government was in the final stages of the economic programme that it must present as part of the talks.
Although an IMF deal has little to do for Egypt’s budget problems, it is viewed as important to drawing in assistance from other investment sources.
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