A senior government official said that the government intends to start visits to obtain official confirmation and written agreements from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the G8 regarding financial aid that can supplement the IMF loan in closing the budget deficit.
The official, who requested anonymity, said Prime Minister Hesham Qandil and ministers of Finance, Planning and International Cooperation and Foreign Affairs, would hold five weeks of consultations before 19 December, when the final report of the IMF mission on the Egyptian economy will be submitted.
American aid of US$450 million, the source said, is a focus of the visits, as well as $1 billion dollars from Turkey, a loan of $1.25 billion from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and $1 billion dollars from the G8, in addition to a visit to the African Development Bank.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
