“WORK will continue with the objective of reaching agreement on an IMF stand-by arrangement to support the authorities' national economic programme in the coming weeks,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Egyptian finance officials said in a joint statement issued on Sunday. The statement came after weekend talks between the IMF and an Egyptian delegation including Central Bank Governor Hisham Ramez, Finance Minister Morsi Al-Sayed Hegazi and Planning Minister Ashraf Al-Arabi. The talks were held during the semi-annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington. The statement said that the Egyptian government was “firmly committed to addressing its economic and financial challenges with the objective of restoring sustained and socially balanced growth, and they are already taking encouraging actions in this direction.” Egypt's economy is suffering from a drain of foreign currency reserves and a ballooning budget deficit, and the country is experiencing social unrest due to political instability. Observers believe an IMF deal would help shore up investors' confidence in the economy and assure them that the country is serious about adopting economic reforms at the top of which are cutting fuel subsidies and increasing taxes. An IMF delegation visited Cairo in the second week of April when it met representatives of the opposition to find out their opinions about the loan. The $4.8 billion life-line is not popular among Egypt's opposition because of fears that it might be associated with austerity measures mainly affecting the poor. Around 20 per cent of Egypt's population lives under the poverty line. “I hope we continue the progress that we have made. It is a task and we will not give up. We will not leave the table. We have to continue the work and have to support the Egyptian population,” Lagarde told a news conference last week.
