A delegation from the International Monetary Fund met Saturday with opposition figures Mohamed ElBaradei and Hamdeen Sabbahi, as well as with representatives of the Salafi-oriented Nour Party.
The delegation, headed by Andreas Bauer, has met with representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and former presidential candidates Amr Moussa and Amr Hamzawy, according to state-run newspaper Akhbar Al-Youm.
The meetings are taking place as part of a broader effort to reach political consensus on a proposed economic program that will be necessary for the loan’s approval, according to the newspaper, which quoted a source from the IMF delegation.
The delegation is schedule to remain in Cairo until Tuesday.
Abdallah Shehata, economic adviser to the finance minister, has said that negotiations over the US$4.8 billion loan are going well and that an agreement will likely be signed soon.
Shehata also denied any rumors of a request from Egypt to increase the size of the loan, saying that such a request never came up during negotiations.
