finance Archives - Armoured & Luxury

French judges in Paris have been questioning IMF chief Christine Lagarde over a controversial payout made to a tycoon when she was finance minister.

She is being asked to explain her handling of a dispute in 2007 which resulted in some 400m euros (£342m; $516m) being paid to Bernard Tapie.

She appeared before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), which investigates ministerial misconduct.

The IMF chief insists the award was the best solution at the time.

She could be placed under formal investigation for the decision to use arbitration, against advice from senior advisers, to settle a long-running court battle between the state and Mr Tapie, a supporter of the then French President, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Qatar has lent Cairo a further £1.25bn and donated an extra £300m in an effort to control a currency crisis prompted by Egypt’s political turmoil.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani announced the doubling of funds after meeting Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo.

Egypt faces the threat of a currency crisis after the Egyptian pound hit its lowest level in eight years.

Authorities warn the country’s central reserves are at a “critical level”.

Needed to defend the local currency against devaluation, the reserves have dropped from $36bn (£22.3bn) before the uprising to just $15bn, the Central Bank of Egypt disclosed late last month.

Meanwhile, the American credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded Egypt’s long-term credit rating to “B-” – the same level as that of Greece.

President Morsi has promised to make tackling the country’s failing economy a key priority.

Nearly two years after the ousting of his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, continuing political unrest has exacerbated Egypt’s financial problems, which helped fuel the uprising.

Armoured & Luxury
Chauffeur Driven Cars

French court questions IMF chief Christine Lagarde

Egypt finance: Qatar steps in to ease Cairo cash crisis