Egypt chides the G8, flirts with IMF

Reeling from yet another credit rating downgrade, Egypt’s prime minister wants the Group of Eight to do what they pledged they would do: support the Arab spring with hard cash. Via Reuters: Egypt’s prime minister appealed to Group of Eight countries on Monday to help unlock billions of dollars in aid promised in September but ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Reeling from yet another credit rating downgrade, Egypt's prime minister wants the Group of Eight to do what they pledged they would do: support the Arab spring with hard cash. Via Reuters:

Reeling from yet another credit rating downgrade, Egypt’s prime minister wants the Group of Eight to do what they pledged they would do: support the Arab spring with hard cash. Via Reuters:

Egypt’s prime minister appealed to Group of Eight countries on Monday to help unlock billions of dollars in aid promised in September but not yet delivered under an initiative to support countries of the Arab spring.

Army-backed Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, who was appointed in November, met ambassadors of G8 countries to tell them Egypt needed financial support immediately, Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr said.

Under the so-called Deauville partnership, G8 countries agreed to supply economic and political aid quickly to several Arab governments in return for commitments they would pursue democratic reforms…

Ganzouri said last week that apart from $1 billion sent by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Egypt had received little of the promised aid.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s cautious dance with the International Monetary Fund continues:

Egypt has little choice but to return to the IMF to help it find up to $15 billion to stave off a full-blown financial crisis, but the ruling army seems to be stalling to avoid blame for approaching a foreign institution for cash on its watch.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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