IMF Could Change Size Of $4.8 Bln Egypt Loan -Official

The International Monetary Fund could conceivably change the size of the $4.8 billion loan which it is negotiating with Egypt, depending on the country’s needs, a senior IMF official said on Tuesday.

“The size may vary, it’s a question of needs and what’s required,” Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, told reporters in response to a question.

He was speaking at a meeting of Arab finance ministers and central bank governors in Dubai.

An IMF delegation is to arrive in Egypt on Wednesday for talks with the government on the $4.8 billion loan. Ahmed said the talks would include reviewing Egypt’s financing needs; an initial agreement on the loan was reached last November but then suspended because of political unrest in Egypt.

Reuters