Egypt to gather additional $6bln required for IMF deal within 1-2 weeks

Egyptian Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said on Monday his country would gather an additional $6 billion in bilateral funding required to secure a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan within one or two weeks.

In comments on a talk show aired by local television channel CBC, he also said the government would submit an investment law to parliament within “one and a half months or more” and that Egypt would issue international bonds in the second half of November or the first week of December.

The IMF in August agreed in principle to grant Egypt a $12 billion three-year loan facility to support a government reform program aimed at plugging a budget gap and rebalancing currency markets. Egypt needs to secure $6 billion in bilateral support before the deal goes to the IMF board for approval.