Accountability

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IMF loan to Egypt branded as “odious”

7 February 2012

In January, social movement Popular Campaign to Drop Egypt’s Debts (PCDED) spoke out against the country’s military government agreeing to a $3.2 billion IMF loan. Their press release argues: “the current IMF loan for Egypt is an odious one as the current government does not represent the Egyptian people … even the donors realise that the current government is not a legitimate one”. The PCDED added that the IMF’s past involvement in Egypt “led to low living standards, high poverty rates, and deterioration of public services and human resources development”. The movement “insistently rejects getting any IMF loan and finds it necessary to identify better alternatives to cover Egypt’s current budget deficit.” In early February, the Egyptian authorities asked the World Bank for a $1 billion loan.