BELGOROD, July 12 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Finance Ministry did not get any requests for a loan from the Egyptian authorities so far, Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters Friday.
“For the time being, we don’t have any requests from there but if we get one we’ll think it over,” he said.
Siluanov added to it that “the budget doesn’t have the /spare/ resources of that size right now.”
Expert assessments suggest that Egypt may need no less than $ 25 billion in external aid over the next two years so as to be able to act properly on all of its budgetary commitments and to pay out its external debts.
“Energy-rich Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates this week committed a collective $12 billion loans, grants, deposits and fuel to shore up the interim government put in charge of the country by the armed forces after it deposed the former President, Mohammed Morsi,” The Financial Times wrote earlier this week.
“The fresh money could buy the interim government six to 12 months of breathing space. But analysts say it fails to resolve the country’s deep economic problems and could even exacerbate them,” it said.
According to the newspaper, “Egypt remains $ 8 billion to $ 9 billion in arrears on debts to international energy companies. Despite improvements in recent weeks, power outages continue to darken Cairo and long queues for gasoline could be seen this week on roadways outside the capital.”
The IMF has not discussed the possibility of a loan to Egypt with the interim government in Cairo so far.