IMF Didn’t Set Date For Signing Loan Agreement With Egypt: Hisham Ramez

The Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Hisham Ramez, said the present government is the first one which works on the subsidy reform program seriously.

Reforming the subsidy system to reach those who deserve requires many conducting studies as people buy the butane gas cylinder at EGP 40, while its subsidized price is EGP 5, he told Amwal Al Ghad.

He affirmed that the economic reform program will not harm the poor, as the government considers the poor when taking any step towards economic reform.

The date of signing the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) US$ 4.8 billion loan agreement has not been decided yet, but it will be signed after setting a comprehensive economic reform plan that will benefit the country regardless of the IMF loan, he revealed.

Ramez then advised people not to convert their savings to US dollar as they will eventually lose like what happened in 2004 when the dollar’s price fell from EGP 7.25 to EGP 5.30, noting that the best saving method is investing in real assets such as real estate.