S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported this Thursday (27) that Egypt has been making \u201cgood progress\u201d in terms of the reforms required for the country to receive a USD 12 billion loan from the organization throughout a three-year term. \u201cThe reforms are headed in the right direction, should continue, should be implemented, and we\u2019re planning to support the government in that\u201d, said the Fund\u2019s spokesman, Gerry Rice, according to information from Kuwaiti agency news Kuna<\/i>. <\/p>\n
Egypt\u2019s government and the IMF signed an agreement on the loan in August, but ratification by the Fund\u2019s board is still needed for the funds to be cleared. According to Rice, a date hasn\u2019t been defined yet for this formalization by the board. He added that the fact that the reforms are progressing doesn\u2019t mean that the implementation process will be easy. \u201cThey\u2019re difficult. There\u2019s going to be disagreement and differences and maybe even protests,\u201d he said.\t<\/p>\n
Among the measures already approved, Rice highlighted the approval of next fiscal year\u2019s budget, the approval of a Value Added Tax (VAT), a plan on energy subsidies and the central bank\u2019s commitment to gradually move to a more flexible exchange rate. <\/p>\n
For the IMF loan to come through, Egypt also needs more USD 5 billion to USD 6 billion in \u201cadditional funding,\u201d amount that should be provided by Saudi Arabia and China, according to Rice.<\/p>\n
Despite persisting on the cuts of energy subsidies, the spokesman emphasized that the Fund did not tied the loan to a cut on food subsidies. \u201cThere\u2019s been some reporting and some speculation around that. I want to be clear on that. The IMF program does not call for any cuts in food subsidies,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
*Translated by S\u00e9rgio Kakitani<\/b><\/p>\n