The Popular Campaign to Drop Egypt’s Debt issued a statement Thursday opposing the IMF loan and questioning the lack of information about “the extent to which the Egyptian economy needs this massive amount of dollars.”
The group protested that there had been no discussion of alternative ways of financing public spending, adding that the government had obtained foreign loans amounting to $6 billion over the past year without any democratic oversight. Governments appointed by the military since the revolution had also borrowed record amounts from Egyptian banks, it said, and “it is not known how they were spent.”
nohaelshoky on 30 Dec 11The loan, reported by state news media on Wednesday, appeared to be part of a broad public relations campaign. Faced with criticism of its reluctance to turn over power and its brutal treatment of protesters, the ruling military council is apparently trying to show it is helping alleviate Egyptians' financial distress.
