IMF Pulls Plug On Cairo

VENTURES AFRICA – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has delayed a $4.8 billion loan to Egypt after Cairo postponed belt-tightening economic measures.

This was confirmed by Egypt’s minister of finance, Mumtaz Al Said, on Wednesday, saying the deal was due to be approved in December this year.

This is a huge blow to the Egyptian economy as this money would also be used to develop infrastructure which is buckling under pressure due to an ever-growing population.

It was thought the loan would also boost additional aid and foreign investment which has yet to recover from a massive drop as a result of the on-going uprising.

Reuters reported that the deal delay followed a move to suspend planned tax increases that were criticised by the opposition.

It is understood that the IMF board was scheduled to meet to discuss approving the loan in December 19 after a preliminary agreement was reached during a visit by an IMF team to Cairo last month.

The IMF had said Egypt must keep policy steady for the loan to go through.

Tags:African business news Egypt GDP Egyptian economy IMF Mohammed Mursi

Mzwandile Jacks

Mzwandile Jacks has been a financial journalist for more than 20 years. He has worked full time for the Sowetan, The Lowvelder, Mpumalanga News, Business Day, Primedia Publishing, Finance Week, This Day, Financial Mail and Business Report. His articles have also been published in The New Age, City Press, Fin 24 and many other niche magazines in the stable of Capemedia and Highbury Safika Media, both independent magazine publishers. He has covered Africa extensively while working for the above-mentioned publications. He studied journalism at the Peninsula Technikon in the Western Cape and Politics and English at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). He cites South Africa’s pioneering journalists like Aggrey Klaaste, Joe Thloloe, Mathatha Tsedu, Monk Nkomo and Len Maseko as his mentors. He was voted the best black financial journalist at Finance Week in 2002. Rikus Delport, the editor of Finance Week at the time, described him as “a top notch journalist of that time.”