The religious implications of IMF loans

BusinessWeek explains how Egypt’s government has leaned on religious scholars to win over those who believe Islamic law prohibits borrowing from the International Monetary Fund: Egypt’s worst economic slowdown in at least a decade is swaying a debate among Islamists toward those who favor the loan, making it easier for the government to secure the ...

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

BusinessWeek explains how Egypt's government has leaned on religious scholars to win over those who believe Islamic law prohibits borrowing from the International Monetary Fund:

BusinessWeek explains how Egypt’s government has leaned on religious scholars to win over those who believe Islamic law prohibits borrowing from the International Monetary Fund:

Egypt’s worst economic slowdown in at least a decade is swaying a debate among Islamists toward those who favor the loan, making it easier for the government to secure the “critical mass” of support that the IMF says is needed for the agreement…Egypt’s popular uprising last year gave rise to Islamist groups that favor Shariah-compliant financing. The Nour Party, the second-biggest Islamist group after the Muslim Brotherhood, seeks a gradual removal of non-Islamic banks and an end to foreign borrowing, according to its economic program.

It appears that the Egyptian authorities will have some additional time to win over skeptics within their ranks; Reuters reports here that a planned IMF mission to Cairo has been delayed:

Egypt’s negotiations for a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF have been delayed to give the government more time to draw up its economic reform programme, the two sides said on Monday.

Egypt was due to receive a team from the International Monetary Fund at the end of September to discuss the terms of the loan. It urgently needs financial support to prop up state coffers weakened by economic turmoil since the popular uprising last year that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

"The authorities are working on their economic programme and have indicated that they need some additional time to advance their preparations and be ready to receive a mission," IMF spokeswoman Wafa Amr said in emailed statement on Monday.

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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