Washington - The International Monetary Fund and Egyptian finance officials are working to conclude the talks "as quickly as feasible" on the long-awaited US$4.8 billion loan deal to ease the country's deepening economic crisis, a senior official said on Friday. "I don't have a date for when those discussions will be completed precisely, but Egyptian authorities and our own team are working diligently to try to bring that set of discussions to a conclusion as quickly as feasible," IMF Director for the Middle East and North Africa Masood Ahmed told reporters on the sidelines of the Annual Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Banks which will be holding during April 19-21 in Washington, DC. Egypt has resumed talks over the US$4.8 million loan in Washington on the sidelines of the IMF and WB's annual spring meetings. Egyptian Central Bank Governor Hisham Ramez, Finance Minister Al-Morsi Hegazy alongside Planning Minister Ashraf Al-Araby are attending the annual meetings in pursuit of reaching a final agreement over the international lender's loan seeking to rescue the country's ailing economy. This comes after the IMF has sent its technical mission to Egypt for a 10-day visit to review the government's amended plan and meet with the country's opposition figures. The International Monetary Fund chief said on Thursday afternoon it has not reached a deal with Egypt regarding a loan program, adding that much more work needs to be done on the matter. Egypt's decision last year to change course regarding planned changes to economic policy had set back progress with the IMF on loan deal talks, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in a news conference. "We've gone back to the drawing board," Lagarde said. "There is clearly more work to be done." An IMF deal will help shore up optimism and confidence in Egypt's economy and reassure foreign and regional investors and donors that the country is committed to economic reforms, which include cutting fuel subsidies and raising sales taxes. Egypt has suffered two years of political instability since the outbreak of the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, driving the country to face multiple economic challenges.
