Loan Negotiations with Egypt at Advanced Stage

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is holding advanced talks with Egypt and will launch similar loan negotiations with Tunisia, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said at a press conference in Washington Thursday. "The IMF has as its main priority the Arab Spring countries and is ready to support democratic transition unconditionally," the financial organisation's chief asserted.

Lagarde also spoke about aid programs that are currently being implemented in Yemen, Morocco and Jordan to ensure their "economic wellbeing." The series of economic reforms aimed at stimulating growth for countries going through democratic transition, Lagarde continued, are of "utmost importance" to the IMF in order to promote living standards of its people.

Arab Spring countries including Egypt, Tunisia and Libya need to make urgent reforms to their economies in order to boost employment, competitiveness and growth, she added. Lagarde concluded by saying that it is the role of the IMF to support those countries that have gone through an economic impasse and help them regain political and economic stability.

Egypt had previously asked the global financial organisation to delay its approval of a $4.8 billion loan in December due to political unrest across the country. Speaking about countries outside the region, the IMF head warned that dangerously high unemployment levels and an Eurozone financial system still in disrepair could lead to disastrous affects on the global economy.