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Expert: Egypt does not need a loan from the IMF

March 22, 2016 at 1:56 pm

An Egyptian economic expert said yesterday that Egypt does not need to receive a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), especially after it agreed to receive a loan of $8bn from the World Bank.

Abdul Nabi Abdul Mutteleb’s comment came after credit agency Fitch Rating said that Egypt might resort to borrowing from the IMF in light of the continued limitations in foreign currency.

The Egyptian academic told the Anadolu Agency that Egypt is a member of the IMF and is entitled to assistance, loans and grants from it as long as an IMF loan would not cause social problems in Egypt and there is a clear plan for using the funds.

In December 2015, the World Bank announced that it would provide $8 billion to Egypt over a period of five years to support the government’s efforts and attempts to make fundamental changes, create more jobs, improve the quality of services provided to all citizens and protect the poor and marginalised.

Read: Egypt to borrow $3 billion from World Bank

“In light of the current political circumstances in Egypt, negotiations with the IMF could be used in a wrong way,” Abdul Mutteleb said.

During the rule of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt engaged in negotiations with the IMF over a $4.5 billion loan, but the negotiations did not yield a positive result and Egypt never received the loan at the time.

In early 2016, Egypt received a $1.4 billion loan from China and the African Development Bank (AFDB).

Read: At the behest of the IMF, Egypt starts reducing energy subsidies