CAIRO: A key Egyptian negotiator with the International Monetary Fund said yesterday that he has resigned as first deputy finance minister, in a potential blow to Cairo’s prospects of an early IMF deal.
Hany Kadry Dimian has been the crucial point man in Egypt’s protracted and so far fruitless negotiations to obtain a $4.8bn loan needed to help combat a severe economic crisis.
“The only comment I can make for the time being is that yes, my term ends on April 30 according to my resignation, which I submitted in December,” Kadry said. “My next move is not decided.”
A senior technocrat appointed in 2007, Kadry survived five finance ministers in office since the 2011 uprising that overthrew former autocratic president Hosni Mubarak. Kadry gave no explanation for his decision to quit, first reported on the Egyptian dissident Rebel Economy blog. A senior European diplomat said his departure was not a good omen for Egypt’s hopes of wrapping up a deal on the long delayed IMF loan next month, as the government has said it aims to do.
Kadry was the one expert in the ministry who fully understood the IMF programme and was able to deal with the global lender professionally, the diplomat said.
The daily El Watan said on its website that Kadry had been under increasing pressure from the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, and in conflict with Abdallah Shehata, the FJP economic adviser to Finance Minister Al Mursi Al Sayed Hegazy.
Separately, the head of Egypt’s bourse, Mohamed Omran, told Prime Minister Hisham Kandil he would like to leave his position at the end of his term on July 1, the state news agency Mena reported, citing an unnamed official stock exchange source. The report did not give a reason for Omran’s request, but said he had told the prime minister in August he wanted to leave the post.
Reuters
