IMF and Egypt continue talks over funding

Published on 18/03/2013 00:00

TALKS will continue between the International Monetary Fund and Egyptian government officials seeking a loan equivalent to £3.2 billion to relieve its budget crisis.

The IMF has said Egypt needs to take bold, immediate action to address its economic problems and has raised the possibility of stop-gap funding to tide it through until after parliamentary elections. Egypt, however, has made clear it wants a full loan.

The country agreed to an IMF loan in principle last November, but requested a delay during violent street unrest.

“We’ve had very good progress, and we had very constructive discussions,” Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, said after meeting prime minister Hisham Kandil in Cairo.

Mr Kandil said Egypt would take a more gradual approach to lowering the budget deficit than the version used in last November’s agreement,