President Morsy arrived in Brussels Thursday to appeal for more international support for Egypt’s economy
The European Union (EU) is the second destination for President Mohamed Morsy after China as he searches for foreign funding. The president arrived in Brussels Thursday, accompanied by up to 24 businessmen according to state-run al-Ahram.
José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, stated that the EU is ready to offer macroeconomic assistance to Egypt worth €500 million, Reuters reported Thursday. Moreover, Barroso stated that the EU is considering injecting between €150 million and €200 million as a budgetary support to Egypt to target economic recovery.
Barroso tied the EU aid to the agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Egyptian government over the $4.8 billion loan that Egypt has requested.
Loan negotiations are ongoing between the IMF and the Egyptian government over the government’s proposed social and economic reform programme, after several halts due to lack of political consensus. An IMF mission is to arrive in Cairo by the end of September for further discussions over the loan.
Social and political debate is still looming, as many people expressed their fears of harsh conditions imposed by the IMF that will hurt Egypt’s working class.
Minister of Finance,Momtaz El-Saeed, regards the IMF’s approval of the $4.8 billion loan as a certificate of guarantee that the Egyptian economy is capable of recovering. Therefore, approval of the loan would signal confidence in the Egyptian economy and could facilitate other loans being acquired from other international financial institutions.
