BLBG: Egypt to Conclude Talks on $3 Billion IMF Loan by June 5, Radwan Says
Egypt’s government expects to conclude talks on a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund by June 5 as the North African country seeks to fund its widening budget deficit after a popular revolt.
“Everything is ready and we don’t anticipate any problems,” Finance Minister Samir Radwan told Bloomberg Television in an interview from Cairo today. The IMF board "has to approve and the agreement has to go to the cabinet and then the military council. All of this will take a few days.’’
Egypt’s deficit may reach 10 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year that ends next month after a revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February hurt revenue from tourism and industrial output. The gap was 8.1 percent in the previous 12 months. The government is targeting a deficit of 11.3 percent next year, Radwan said.
The yield on Egypt’s 10-year 5.75 percent dollar bond rose 1 basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 5.96 percent as of 11:20 a.m. in Cairo, according to prices on Bloomberg. The Egyptian pound gained 0.2 percent to 5.9470 per dollar. The benchmark EGX 30 stock index advanced for a fourth day, climbing 0.8 percent to 5,590.57.
Mubarak resigned on Feb. 11 after three decades in power, ceding authority to the military which dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution until parliamentary and presidential elections later this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lara Setrakian in Dubai at lsetrakian1@bloomberg.net Alaa Shahine in Dubai at asalha@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net Claudia Maedler at cmadler@bloomberg.net
