Thursday, May 31, 2012

(This story was originally published Wednesday.)

CAIRO (Zawya Dow Jones)--Egyptian Finance Minister Momtaz El Saied has approved the release of $100 million for the import of petroleum products to meet domestic demand.

The extra amount brings the total given to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation during the fiscal year ending June 30 to about $4.2 billion to date, according to an emailed statement Wednesday from the ministry of finance.

Earlier this week the minister also approved the release of 5 billion Egyptian pounds ($827 million) to repay wheat farmers for produce they made available to the state.

These disbursals come at a time when the country is facing immense financial challenges as the economy struggles to recover following the revolution in early 2011. The Arab state's international reserves stood at $15.2 billion at the end of April, sharply down from $36 billion at the end of 2010, steadily declining since the uprising that overthrew former president Hosni Mubarak.

The International Monetary Fund earlier this month asked Egypt to "quickly" address the economic challenges it faces to implement an economic program within weeks of the presidential elections.

A viable economic recovery plan that enjoys broad political support is seen as critical for the IMF to approve a $3.2 billion loan to help the country deal with its financial difficulties.

-By Farah Halime; Contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; +20111 4994453

Fhalime@gmail.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

31-05-12 0348GMT