Washington declares support for Egypt’s loan deal with IMF

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed Washington’s support of an economic reform programme Egypt is adopting, which includes an IMF $12 billion loan package, the Egyptian foreign ministry announced Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund has agreed in principle to grant Egypt a three-year loan facility to support a government reform programme aimed at mending the country’s ailing economy.

During a phone conversation with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, Kerry “welcomed the recently-signed [tentative] deal between the Egyptian government and the IMF, stressing that the US supports such an important step on the path of economic reform in Egypt,” the ministry said in a statement.

The deal is still subject to final approval by the IMF executive committee, likely to be decided in the coming weeks, the IMF has said.

The senior officials discussed mutual ties between the two allies as well as recent developments in the region including efforts being made to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and the situation in the war-torn Syria and Libya.

Source: TVC News