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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet Egyptian treasury officials in Washington on Tuesday amid talks between Cairo and the International Monetary Fund over additional financial support, the Treasury Department said.
Egypt already suffers from high external debt levels, a war in the neighboring Gaza Strip that threatens to disrupt tourist bookings and natural gas imports, and recent attacks on Red Sea shipping. It’s been a big blow.
A $3 billion loan program that Egypt agreed with the IMF in December 2022 has stalled after the North African country failed to make progress on free floating of its currency or selling off state-owned assets.
The IMF postponed disbursements of about $700 million that had been expected to take place in 2023, but in December it said it was in talks to expand the program to $3 billion in consideration of the economic risks posed by the Israel-Gaza war. Announced.
The IMF had no immediate comment on whether Egyptian officials would also meet with IMF officials during their visit to Washington.
The Treasury Department announced that Yellen will meet with Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait. Rania Almashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Hassan Abdallah, head of the central bank.
The talks came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting the Middle East as part of renewed efforts to prevent the Gaza conflict from escalating into a regional conflagration. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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