Egyptian government considers IMF loan

The Egyptian government is considering taking a loan for $3 billion; roughly the same amount the North African country will spend in foreign debt repayments this year.

An IMF team visited Egypt in the second half of March, but so far it appears that no agreement has been reached on a loan and the economic conditions attached to one.

Details of policies being discussed with the IMF are not publicly available, but have been rumoured to include:
•    Cuts in government spending
•    Increasing sales tax
•    Raising rents for peasant farmers

The Popular Campaign to Drop Egypt’s Debt called upon Egyptian political parties to “reject this economic plan and to exchange it with another that is based upon channelling the resources of this loan to increase public spending on high employment projects in the fields of education, health, housing and public transportation.”

They added that: “reviewing previous debts and dropping those which are corrupt is a sure method of making foreign currency available and lifting a burden off the Egyptian economy”.

Amr Adly from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said: "The plan does not include anything about progressive taxes or setting maximum wages."