IMF to lend Egypt $3 bn: ministry
Baku, June 6 (AZERTAC). The International Monetary Fund has granted Egypt a loan of three billion dollars over 12 months to help put its economy back on track, Finance Minister Samir Radwan announced on Sunday.
"Egypt announces the end of negotiations with the IMF and the clinching of an agreement with the fund to relaunch the Egyptian economy," Radwan told reporters.
The two parties agreed to a "three-billion-dollar loan over 12 months... with an interest rate of 1.5 percent," he said, adding that the loan would help partly offset a budget deficit of $28 billion.
The loan grants Egypt a grace period of three years and three months followed by five years to pay it back.
"We are committed to support Egypt and we are conscious of the pressures on state resources, particularly with regards to money transfers from overseas workers and tourism," said Ratna Sahay, deputy director of the fund`s Middle East and Central Asia department.
The IMF said on May 12 it had received a loan request from Egypt.
Egypt, which estimates it needs between 10 and 12 billion dollars in international funding to keep it going until mid-2012, was courting loans worth roughly $6 billion from the IMF and the World Bank.
Cairo has said two Gulf countries would also help boost Egypt`s economy.
Saudi Arabia has pledged four billion dollars in aid in the form of long-term loans and grants, while Qatar pledged to invest $10 billion, according to Egyptian authorities.
The IMF said in a report to the leaders of the G8 meeting in France last month that it was prepared to lend about $35 billion to oil-importing countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
"Our agreement with Egypt is a further step toward providing this aid," said John Lipsky, the IMF`s acting managing director.
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