WASHINGTON, April 20, 2012 (AFP)
WASHINGTON, April 20, 2012 (AFP)
A senior IMF official on Friday said the timing of a possible $3.2 billion loan to Egypt was unclear as the crisis lender awaits broad support for the program from the Egyptian people.
The International Monetary Fund and Cairo’s authorities are making “good progress” in identifying the issues of a loan program to support the economy in transition after last year’s uprising, said Masood Ahmed, the head of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department.
But to get “a broad buy-in,” the details of a program first need to be fully fleshed out and then shared with the power constituencies, he said at a news conference at the IMF-World Bank spring meetings in Washington.
Ahmed said that how quickly the aid could be delivered depends largely on Egyptian authorities and their political partners finding support for the program.
“On our side, we are ready to bring this to closure as quickly as the Egyptian authorities and their partners within the country are ready to bring it to closure,” he said.
“Will that be done in a week, or four weeks, or eight weeks? It’s really hard for me to make a view on that,” he said.
Egypt is preparing for the first presidential election, on May 23-24, since a popular uprising ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, and is negotiating a new constitution for the country.
