Egypt to borrow $5bn

Egyptian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ashraf Arab says that the final agreement to secure an International Monetary Fund loan is yet to be signed. Speaking to Arabstoday, the Minister said he will be signing the letter of intent next month: "The signing will take place in the month of December, but the letter of intent is an agreement initially between the Fund and Egypt, which provides Egypt's request for the loan by borrowing nearly 300% of its stake in the International Monetary Fund." On Tuesday, the Egyptian government announced that they had met and reached a preliminary agreement with IMF experts, to borrow 4.8 billion US dollars over 22 months. Arab confirmed that the letter of intent will be handed over to the IMF administration in Washington, who will prepare a report on how to implement the country's program of economic reform.