IMF spokesman: Egypt has not requested IMF loan

Egypt has not requested an International Monetary Fund financing, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday, after an Egyptian minister said the country may resume talks with the global lender on a loan program. "The authorities have not requested an IMF arrangement," IMF spokesman David Hawley told a regular briefing with reporters. "In the past months we have maintained a close dialogue with authorities," he added. Egypt's Planning and International Cooperation Minister Faiza Abu el-Naga told reporters in Cairo earlier on Thursday that Egypt "may need to restart talks with the IMF to obtain loans". The IMF has said it has roughly $35 billion to lend to countries in the Middle East and North Africa following a year of political turmoil that has toppled leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.