Egypt is to increase the size of its $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, according to reports carried in local media, Reuters reported. The larger amount has yet to be confirmed.
The IMF is currently on a two-week visit to Cairo to finalize plans for the long-running deal.
The extra money will cover the North African country's booming budget deficit, which currently stands at $26 billion, according to the planning minister.
The lack of a viable plan to deal with the increasing deficit, expected to double by June this year, lead credit rating agency Moody's to downgrade financial institutions in March.
"Egypt will intensify its efforts in the spring meetings of the IMF in the period from April 16-21 to receive additional funding to cover the financing deficit until mid-2015," Ashraf El-Araby said to local media, according to Reuters.
Egypt's economy has suffered since the revolution that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak in January 2011 as continued political instability scared of investors and caused a flight of currency, leaving levels at record lows.
