CAIRO: In what appears to be a response to the recent postponement of massive tax increases, Egypt's government has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to postpone a $4.8 billion loan agreement seen as vital to the country's economic future. The move came on Tuesday, only two days after President Mohamed Morsi announced a new series of taxes, including massive hikes on alcohol and cigarettes. Within hours, however, the government backtracked and rescinded the taxes, instead calling for national dialogue to be held next week on the proposed increases. The tax increases were part of IMF stipulations for the loan agreement, which was approved recently by the international development organization. “In light of the unfolding developments on the ground, the Egyptian authorities have asked to postpone their request for a Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF,” said a statement from the IMF sent to media on Tuesday afternoon Cairo time. “The Fund remains in close contact with the authorities, and stands ready to continue supporting Egypt during the ongoing transition and to consult with the authorities on the resumption of discussions regarding the Stand-By Arrangement,” it added. But the loan deal has not been seen as necessarily positive by opposition groups in the country, who had demanded that there was a national dialogue ahead o approving the deal. “This is a loan that in the end we all know who is going to pay for it, Egyptians and nobody wanted to hear our criticism and frustration," activist Amr Mohamed, 28, who has spoken out on the loan on social media networks, told Bikyamasr.com after the loan was announced in November. An IMF staff mission headed by Andreas Bauer, Division Chief in the Middle East and Central Asia Department, and the Egyptian authorities said that they had reached a staff-level agreement on a 22-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in the amount of about $4.8 billion. But activists and NGOs in Egypt have repeatedly said that the entire process has been void of transparency and had recently come together to oppose the loan, demanding that the government of President Mohamed Morsi end discussions with the IMF. It didn't happen. In early November, a group of 17 political parties, NGOs and human rights associations in Egypt have called for loan negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be ended immediately, citing a lack of transparency and the undemocratic nature of the current development. Among the groups were the Popular Current Party, The Egyptian Current Party, The Strong Egypt Party as well as rights NGOs New Woman Foundation, Hisham Mubarak Law Center, Habi Center for Environmental Rights, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Egyptian Women Legal Aid and others. “The negotiations of the terms and conditions of the loan agreement, including the government's economic reform program, have lacked transparency on the part of both the IMF and the Government of Egypt," said the statement sent to media outlets.
