Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said on Sunday that Egypt wants to resume talks with the International Monetary Fund in January on a USD 4.8-billion loan frozen this month because of political tensions and unrest. ‘We have invited (the IMF) to resume talks during January,’ Qandil told a news conference in Cairo.
He said the sum involved was ‘small,’ but ‘its value is in the sign of confidence it gives to the Egyptian economy,’ which he admitted was in difficulty although talk of bankruptcy was not in order.
The request for a loan, made last August, was suspended on December 11 for a month, with Cairo saying the postponement was ‘because of the political situation in the country.’
The presidency of the Mohamed Morsi is going through its worst crisis since his election in June, mainly over a disputed referendum on a new Islamist-drafted constitution that was approved by 64 per cent of voters.
The likelihood of prolonged ‘elevated’ political conflict despite the adoption of the constitution prompted the ratings agency Standard and Poor's this week to knock Egypt's long-term credit rating down a peg to ‘B-’.
TREASON CHARGES AGAINST TOP OPPOSITION LEADERS DROPPED
Egypt on Sunday dropped treason charges against top opposition leaders including ex-IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei, extending an olive branch to the leaders who had accused President Mohamed Mursi of trying to muzzle dissent. The country’s top prosecutor had ordered an investigation into accusations against against the Constitution Party head Mohammed ElBaradei, Nobel Prize laureate and former head of the UN nuclear agency, along with Amr Moussa, former foreign minister and Hamdeen Sabahi, leader of the Dignity Party, of incitement to overthrow the regime of Mursi.
Moussa and Sabahy both had challenged Mursi for the presidency in a June poll, which followed the 2011 uprising against the long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak. Asqalani, a member of the Freedoms Committee at the Lawyers Syndicate, said that he had filed the complaint at the time of the Ettehadeya Presidential Palace clashes that led to the death of several people. He said it was a dark time when Egyptian blood was being shed, and suggested that ‘everything that has happened may be part of a conspiracy against the country.’
The plaintiff stressed that he respects all national forces who seek to uphold the principles of democracy.
He said the sum involved was ‘small,’ but ‘its value is in the sign of confidence it gives to the Egyptian economy,’ which he admitted was in difficulty although talk of bankruptcy was not in order.
The request for a loan, made last August, was suspended on December 11 for a month, with Cairo saying the postponement was ‘because of the political situation in the country.’
The presidency of the Mohamed Morsi is going through its worst crisis since his election in June, mainly over a disputed referendum on a new Islamist-drafted constitution that was approved by 64 per cent of voters.
The likelihood of prolonged ‘elevated’ political conflict despite the adoption of the constitution prompted the ratings agency Standard and Poor's this week to knock Egypt's long-term credit rating down a peg to ‘B-’.
TREASON CHARGES AGAINST TOP OPPOSITION LEADERS DROPPED
Egypt on Sunday dropped treason charges against top opposition leaders including ex-IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei, extending an olive branch to the leaders who had accused President Mohamed Mursi of trying to muzzle dissent. The country’s top prosecutor had ordered an investigation into accusations against against the Constitution Party head Mohammed ElBaradei, Nobel Prize laureate and former head of the UN nuclear agency, along with Amr Moussa, former foreign minister and Hamdeen Sabahi, leader of the Dignity Party, of incitement to overthrow the regime of Mursi.
Moussa and Sabahy both had challenged Mursi for the presidency in a June poll, which followed the 2011 uprising against the long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak. Asqalani, a member of the Freedoms Committee at the Lawyers Syndicate, said that he had filed the complaint at the time of the Ettehadeya Presidential Palace clashes that led to the death of several people. He said it was a dark time when Egyptian blood was being shed, and suggested that ‘everything that has happened may be part of a conspiracy against the country.’
The plaintiff stressed that he respects all national forces who seek to uphold the principles of democracy.