Egypt will start talks with China over a USD2bn loan next week and plans to issue international bonds in October or November, Deputy Finance Minister for Treasury Mohamed Meait said on Monday. Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said earlier Egypt was in talks with China over a loan but gave no further details. "All the details are with the central bank," he said. International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr meanwhile told the state news agency on Monday that Egypt is in talks with China over a loan of USD4bn. Of that, USD1bn would be used to support foreign reserves, with USD3bn allocated for developmental projects, Nasr said. An IMF official said last week that the Fund had held "very productive discussions" with authorities in China and Saudi Arabia about their contributing to that bilateral financing. (Reuters, Bloomberg)