Egypt's government expects to seal a loan from the International Monetary Fund by May 15, allowing the money to be disbursed before a new president is sworn in at the end of June, the country's Finance Minister Mumtaz al-Saeed said on Thursday.

"We expect to get approval of the IMF loan before May 15," Saeed told reporters in Cairo.

"God willing, we will take the loan before a president for Egypt is in place."

Egypt has sought a $3.2 billion IMF financing arrangement to ease strains on an economy laid low by the turmoil that followed last year's overthrow of leader Hosni Mubarak.

[Reuters]