Two government sources said that Egypt has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund after nearly two weeks of talks to secure a $12 billion (9.25 billion pounds) lending programme and will make an announcement on Thursday, reported Reuters.
The sources said no deal had been signed yet but that intensive talks with an IMF delegation that arrived in Cairo on July 30 had resulted in a preliminary understanding.
Talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) started ahead reaching an agreement over a loan to help finance the government’s economic program. Egypt is seeking $12 billion over three years.
The Egyptian economy has been struggling as it faced one of its harshest downfall in its history. It suffered from a shortage of foreign currency due to the withdrawal of tourism and foreign investments which were among the main sources of foreign currency. Moreover, the shortage of foreign currency has led to an unprecedented rise in the dollar exchange rate relative to the Egypt’s currency.
The Central bank of Egypt(CBE) has devalued the Egyptian pound last March with amid speculation of another devaluation in the coming period.
Since the 2011 January Revolution that ousted Mubarak’s regime, the IMF relation with Egypt has tempestuous as the IMF has turned down two initial loan accords.
