IMF ready to aid Egypt without conditions: reports

Masood Ahmed told Egyptian dailies however that the International Monetary Fund would prefer to see Egypt produce a two-year programme of reforms that is rubber-stamped by all of the country's post-revolt factions.

Ahmed, director of the IMF's department for the Middle East, North Africa and Central, lead talks this week in Cairo where the government formally asked the Fund for a 3.2 billion-dollar loan to shore up its economy.

"The Fund does not plan on imposing any conditions" on a loan to Egypt, Ahmed was quoted as saying by the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, with similar remarks carried by the government Al-Ahram daily.

"All we want is a two-year reform programme that is approved by all political forces and that succeeds in reducing the budget deficit," he told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Ahmed also met Tuesday with members of the Islamist Freedom and Justice Party which won a crushing victory in legislative polls to discuss the loan possibility, the FJP said in a statement.

Egypt is facing a budget deficit of 144 billion Egyptian pounds (about 24 billion dollars) which analysts expect to deepen.