IMF Still In Talks With Egypt Over US$4.8 Bln Loan

The Chairman of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde said the IMF mission is still in talks with Egypt to provide technical and financial support to the country and a number of Arab countries.

The mission is also in talks with non-governmental organizations, syndicates and political parties in Egypt concerning the US$ 4.8 billion loan that the Egyptian government asked IMF for, Lagarde added.

IMF offered technical aids to Libya and Tunisia and hopes that the miserable situation in Syria will end soon.

Lagarde affirmed in her address via satellite in the annual conference of Union of Arab Banks in Beirut yesterday that Arab banks have to play an important role in the current period to finance economic projects which create many job opportunities as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which boost growth and investment rates.