A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Egypt on Saturday for an official visit to discuss a support plan for the government’s economic reform project.
The delegation met first with the Finance Ministry before visiting the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), followed by the ministries of planning, industry, international cooperation, investment and trade.
Ayman al-Qaffas, deputy finance minister for international affairs and the ministry spokesperson, said in press remarks that the IMF delegation includes seven experts representing various economic and financial sectors. The talks target securing a loan to support the government's financial program in a way that upholds public interests.
Egypt is hoping to obtain a loan of an estimated value of US$12 billion, which would be distributed over the course of three years, with the intention of boosting foreign currency reserves at CBE, closing up the budget deficit and reducing rates of inflation.
A senior informed source revealed that the government has rejected several requests made by the IMF during talks to set the value of the loan. Three months ago, IMF set out 14 conditions for Egypt to secure a loan, some of which were accepted, while others were refused.
According to the source, the government resisted an IMF recommendation to reduce numbers of civil servants, estimated at 5.5 million employees and a drain on one quarter of the state budget, deemed by the Fund to be over-employment.
“Egypt rejected the fund’s recommendations on make redundant two million civil servants. The Egyptian program submitted to the fund has nothing to do with employees. A proposal was made to adopt training programs for employees to allow them to be promoted to roles in governmental ministries,” the source said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
