By Islam Serour
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, is scheduled to visit Cairo on 22 August for further discussions with President Mohamed Morsy over a possible IMF loan to Egypt.
It has been reported that an IMF mission, led by Masood Ahmed, the IMF director for Middle East and Central Asia, was scheduled to visit Egypt by the end of August to discuss the $3.2 billion loan, requested by the Government to help address its looming financial crisis and budget deficit.
Reuters reported Wednesday that the Government will ask to increase the loan to over $4.8 billion.
Negotiations have been on hold for several months due to lack of domestic consensus regarding borrowing from international financial institutions, particularly since the IMF demanded the support of all political factions before granting any loans.
However, the worsening financial crisis has forced the Government to resume talks. Momtaz Saeed, Minister of Finance, told reporters that the Government’s goal is to acquire a certificate allowing international institutions to provide Egypt with loans, not a loan itself, suggesting that there would be more borrowing from international financial institutions to come.
