will resume talks in January with the International Monetary Fund after Cairo suspended its request for a $4.8 billion IMF loan during the recent political turmoil over the disputed constitution. Fearing even greater political turmoil, President Mohammed Morsi called off tax hikes and spending cuts that were part of the economic program it submitted to apply for the IMF loan, scuttling the loan request itself. But now that the constitution has been approved in a public referendum, the government has again turned its attention to economic reforms. Many had expected a currency devaluation as part of the IMF deal, which had gained preliminary approval in November ahead of the outbreak of the political crisis and mass street protests over the constitution. Over the past week, fears of an imminent currency devaluation led to a rush on dollars, putting further pressure on the Egyptian pound. The worries were fuelled in part by the government's move to cap the amount of foreign currency people can take with them as they leave the country. Two bankers familiar with the new auction system said it brought the exchange rate to 6.365 pounds to the dollar a loss of nearly 3 percent of its value from 6.19 pounds to the dollar on Thursday, the last trading day. "This is a kind of controlled devaluation," said one of the bankers from a state bank who had attended meetings with the central bank governor to discuss the plan. "And this is only in the first four hours," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. According to the new plan, retail buyers will pay up to 2 percent commission on purchasing dollars from the bank,toms shoes reviews. It also limits banks from holding more than 1 percent of their capital net worth in foreign currency, down from 10 percent. "This will create new supply," Abdel-Hamid said. Both bankers said it remains to be seen how the new auction system will help stabilize Egypt's currency as the market remains worried about the government's ability to draw up and implement reforms in a highly polarized political environment. Prime Minister Hesham Kandil tried to address those concerns, calling for national unity in the face of tough economic reforms needed to secure the IMF loan and buoy investor confidence. "We need the vote of confidence from the IMF," he told reporters. "We hope to have more consensus on the government program. We hope there are no core changes to our plan with the fund," he added,toms shoes discount. He did not say when talks with the IMF would resume. At another venue,discount toms shoes, Finance Minister Mumtaz el-Said told reporters that the governor of the central bank was meeting with heads of banks to discuss the outcome of the auction. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download.[标签:标题] By SUZAN FRASER, Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkey is holding talks with the Kurdish rebels' jailed leader to press the autonomy-seeking guerrilla group to relinquish arms and end its decades-long conflict, a senior official was quoted as saying Related articles:

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