New uncertainty over the country\u2019s economy added to the political turmoil. On Tuesday, Mr. Morsi\u2019s government postponed a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund that was intended to help Egypt avert financial collapse, saying that the delay would give Egyptian officials more time to discuss the related package of economic policy changes with the public, the country\u2019s finance minister told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The monetary fund\u2019s board had been expected to approve the loan this month to prop up the economy, which has been battered by the near-evaporation of tourism and general slow growth since the revolution that unseated Mr. Mubarak nearly two years ago. But a huge public outcry against planned tax increases prompted Mr. Morsi to back away from them on Monday, and Finance Minister Mumtaz al-Said told Reuters on Tuesday that the government had asked to postpone the loan until the fund\u2019s board meets next in January.<\/p>\n
The military-led transitional government that followed Mr. Mubarak drained the country\u2019s foreign exchange reserves, which were propping up the Egyptian pound, and economists say the aid package from the fund is essential to avoid a collapse of the currency and the soaring inflation and worsened unrest that might follow.<\/p>\n