imf ready to help egypt

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Director, Christine Lagarde, has called newly elected Egyptian President-Mohamed Morsi to offer assistanc, said on Friday a spokesman for the international body. “Lagarde phoned Mr. Morsi Thursday to congratulate him on his election, which represents an important step in the transition of Egypt,” said her spokesman. “They discussed the economic situation in Egypt and how the IMF can help in the coming period”.

Lagarde “reiterated that the IMF stands ready to support Egypt and was looking forward to working closely with the Egyptian authorities,” he added.

Before the elections, the IMF urged Egypt to implement a program of economic reforms in exchange for a financial assistance of about $ 3.2 billion. Negotiations between the two parties were blocked by the electoral process in the absence of a national consensus on the financial commitments that Egypt could fulfill.

In April 2012, the IMF indicated its willingness to conclude an agreement with the Egyptian authorities but that required the political system to reach an agreement on a number of issues, particularly on the adoption of the Finance Act.