Loan was deemed 'too dangerous to Egyptian economy' Egypt has rejected $750 million in emergency-aid loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because it was deemed too dangerous to Egyptian economy, Finance Minister el-Morsi Hegazi said. "Egyptian economy is on track for recovery and stability," Hegazi told reporters at an economic conference in Cairo. He also said the Egyptian government had turned down a fast-tracked loan from the IMF worth $750 million.
He added: "The Egyptian government has done its part and has put together and begun implementing a programme of social and economic reforms. As a founding and member state in the IMF, Egypt is entitled to a loan worth triple out share in the fund, which is approximately $4.8 billion.
On the diesel fuel shortage crisis, the minister insisted that his government had increased the funds allocated to importing the petroleum products that the Egyptian market needs. He said the treasury had pumped an extra EGP 7 billion into the diesel allocations compared with expenditure on the same item over the same period last year.
Hegazi denied a reported statement by his Qatari counterpart that Qatar will not be giving Egypt any more aid, having already supplied $5 billion in the form of direct aid and credit facilities. "Qatar has done its duty in this regard and the Egyptian government has not asked for more," Hegazi said.