Egypt says will not need IMF, World Bank funds

Egypt will not borrow from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund after revising its budget and cutting the forecast deficit, even though a loan had been agreed, Finance Minister Samir Radwan said .

The 2011/12 deficit in the first draft budget was forecast at 11 percent of gross domestic product, but was revised to 8.6 percent because of a national dialogue and the ruling army council's concerns about debt levels, the minister told .

"So we do not need to go at this stage to the Bank and the Fund," Radwan said, adding Egypt, which had borrowed from the IMF under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, still had the "best relations" with the two US-based institutions.

Despite the budget revisions, the government said it still expected growth of 3.0-3.5 percent, in line with previous forecasts, which some economists said could prove optimistic.

Egypt this month agreed on a $3-billion (1.9 billion pounds), 12-month standby loan facility from the IMF, which Cairo had said came with more lenient terms than usually associated with such lending.

The IMF and World Bank had been among a range of foreign countries and bodies to offer funds to Egypt to help cover a big budget shortfall after the economy was plunged into turmoil by the mass protests that drove Mubarak from office on February 11.

Egypt's cabinet had approved on June 1 a budget for 2011/12 that increased spending by a quarter to create jobs and help the poor. That was revised in a new draft announced on Wednesday that included raising income tax and reducing fuel subsidies.

Gulf Arab states are among those who offered support.

Radwan said Qatar had provided $500 million for budgetary support in the past week. "That is a gift," he said, when asked if there were any conditions attached to the Qatari cash.

He said Saudi Arabia had earlier offered a similar amount.

The minister said the first draft of the budget, which forecast a deficit of about 170 billion Egyptian pounds, was discussed with activists, writers, the business community, trade unions and non-government organisations.

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Former Tunisian president to face June 20 trial

 Former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia in January, will be tried in absentia on June 20, Tunisia's interim prime minister said Monday. 

"Ben Ali's trial will start on June 20," Beji Caid Sebsi said in an interview on Al Jazeera television. "He will be tried in a military and in a civilian court." 



Ben Ali fled to Jeddah after he was toppled by mass protests on January 14 after 23 years in power. Several members of his family and security and some of his closest allies were detained shortly after he was forced out. 


Tunisian authorities have been preparing several legal cases against Ben Ali, including conspiring against the state, voluntary manslaughter and drug trafficking. 


The caretaker authorities, trying to assert their authority and gain legitimacy in the eyes of protesters who forced the transition, are attacking the vestiges of his long rule. 


Saudi authorities have not responded to a request by Tunis to extradite Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi. 


Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted shortly after Ben Ali, is also due to stand trial for the killing of protesters and could face the death penalty.

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