Egypt to Finish Revised Economy Plan

Egypt's finance minister has said that the government would complete its revision of its economic reform plan next week, after which it planned to invite a delegation from the International Monetary Fund to visit Egypt, the finance ministry announced on its website on Monday.

In November, the Egyptian government signed a preliminary agreement for a $4.8 billion IMF loan. The signing of the loan deal was delayed, however, after a fresh round of political turmoil forced it to postpone a handful of austerity measures that the loan agreement is conditional upon. According to Finance Minister El-Mursi El-Sayed Hegazy, Egypt is currently "waiting for the final revisions of the economic and social reform programme in light of recent [political] developments. and a recent package of tax amendments."

Hegazy declared last week that talks between Egypt and the IMF were proceeding "smoothly," pointing out that the agreement was currently waiting on the government's review of the economic programme and the results of an ongoing "social dialogue" on the government's economic recovery plan. IMF Africa and Middle East Director Masood Ahmed had previously announced that the IMF was in the process of assessing new budget-reduction procedures, which, he said, were now in the "final stages" of completion.