The fiscal disaster facing Egypt makes Washington’s budget battles look like kids squabbling over the milk money. Unless Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy can secure a loan from the International Monetary Fund within the next three months, Egypt will run out of currency reserves, default on its debt and go broke. If that happens, renewed protests could topple the government and send the country back into chaos…

Kerry said Morsy pledged to quickly reach an agreement with the IMF on the loan, worth $5 billion with an additional $1 billion bonus in U.S. funds when its completed, and that he’d endeavor to address the concerns of minorities. “Our hope is that the democracy that he has talked about can come to fruition,” Kerry told NPR. “I can’t sit here and tell you that I know it will. I can’t tell you there’s a guarantee that the things that he said he wants to do can, in fact, be affected. And if they are not, then Egypt is going to have a very difficult time in the days ahead.”…

Compared to Egypt’s needs, the $250 million is a drop in the bucket, but it did underline U.S. backing of Morsy at a moment when he really needs it. The U.S. has thus far supported Morsy as the democratically elected leader of Egypt, while expressing concerns about his attempts to quash his opposition. The military is waiting in the wings for Morsy to fail, but as they learned the hard way in the first 15 months after the revolution, governing isn’t their cup of tea. Which means, if Morsy falls Egypt could fall into a power vacuum. If Morsy fails to secure the IMF loan, that may happen any way, throwing the security of Egypt and the rest of the region into question.