Egypt asks for IMF support
A delegation from the International Monetary Fund is due to visit Egypt later this month after the country asked the IMF for $3.2bn (£2.09bn) in support. Egypt’s interim cabinet seeks to fill a budget gap pushed wider by almost a year of political and economic turmoil. The previous army-backed government turned down an offer of $3bn in financial assistance from the IMF last June, but since then the country’s funding problems have worsened and its currency has come under heavy pressure. An IMF delegation is due to return to Egypt in late January.