CAIRO (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged Egypt to begin implementing a series of measures it says will help economic recovery, spur growth and raise the standard of living.
IMF managing director Rodrigo de Rato told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the main challenge for Cairo was to pay off part of its domestic debt.
He told journalists that he also urged the government to take immediate action to reduce a 8.4-billion-dollar budget deficit that has been growing faster than gross domestic product.
Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali said Mubarak had assured de Rato that reducing the deficit was "among the government's concerns" and that additional measures would be taken to bring it under control.
Egypt, said de Rato, should promote transparency in government spending and accelerate reforms, particularly tax reforms, and continue liberalizing the economy and privatizing state-owned enterprises.
Ghali said the government was pursuing an "objective" economic programme in various fields, adding that he expected this to pay off by "attracting foreign investments" and "increasing growth rate."
The reform-minded government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif that took office in July has pledged to turn around Egypt's ailing economy and rein in high inflation, skyrocketing unemployment and the huge debt burden.
Egypt announced in September that it was ready to allow foreign companies to manage state-owned businesses but would not give up control of those firms it sees as strategic.
De Rato was in Egypt on the final leg of a Middle East tour that has also taken him to Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
10/26/2004 - 20:50 GMT - AFP