The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has opened a new week with gain worth EGP 1.43 billion despite the conflicting statements released over the last 3 days by the International Monetary Fund whether the talks over the US$ 4.8 loan are back to the drawing board or will be finalized very soon like the case with Tunisia's US$1.75 billion. The capital market has amounted to EGP 362.326 billion, according to data compiled by Amwal Al Ghad English at 11:00 a.m. Cairo time (09:00 GMT) during Sunday's opening session. The EGX indices opened in green notes. Benchmark EGX30 inched up by 0. 38% to 5288.68 p; while EGX20 rose by 0.88% to 6221.39 p. Meanwhile, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 edged up by 0.90% to 454.46 p. Price index EGX100 increased by 0.66% to 756.74 p. During Sunday's opening session, the trading volume has reached 16.527 million securities worth EGP 42.518 million, exchanged through 2.452 transactions. This was after trading in 88 listed securities; 4 declined, 58 advanced; while 26 keeping their previous levels. Arab and the non-Arab foreigners' buying transactions have backed EGX's gains as they were net buyers seizing 7.06% and 1.66% respectively, of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 1.090 million and EGP 295.148 thousand, excluding the deals. Meanwhile, Egyptians were net sellers seizing 91.27% of the total markets, with a net equity of EGP 1.386 million excluding the deals. IMF-Egypt Loan Saga: Ahead of 2013 Spring Annual Meeting of the IMF and World Bank In Washington DC, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in a news conference, 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, "We've gone back to the drawing board," Lagarde said. "There is clearly more work to be done." On Friday on the sidelines of the IMF-WB annual meetings, IMF Director for the Middle East and North Africa Masood Ahmed said the IMF 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," Ahmed noted It is worth noting that 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. Later on Saturday, Lagarde declared the IMF "would not give up, would not leave the table" until it had struck a loan deal with Egypt. "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 be of support to the Egyptian population," Lagarde told a news conference at the end of a meeting of the IMF's steering committee. To get the money, the cash-strapped Egypt has to convince the IMF it is serious about reforms to boost growth and curb an unaffordable budget deficit. That implies tax hikes and politically risky cuts in the generous system of state subsidies for fuel and food, including bread. After two years of political upheaval, Egypt's foreign currency reserves have fallen to critically low levels, threatening its ability to buy wheat and fuel.
