(AFP PHOTO)
Prime Minister Hisham Qandil denied reports that he was seeking to secure a $2 billion loan during his meetings with Algerian counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal.
It was widely reported that during the prime minister’s trip, he would be seeking a direct injection of funds into the struggling Egyptian economy. However, state news agency MENA cited Qandil at a press conference upon his departure from Algeria saying that the Egyptian government asked for no such aid.
The Egyptian government has received such funds from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but for now it seems that the Algerian meetings were more along the lines of those held in Turkey, which sought to redefine and strengthen the new Egyptian relationship with a regional economic power.
The large envoy of Egyptian diplomats held the strengthening of the economy as the central focus of their visit, particularly in the regions of oil and infrastructure.
The foreign ministers from the two countries also met to discuss ongoing crises in their spheres of influence, including fighting in Mali and the civil war in Syria.
