Saudi Arabia approved the US$5 billion aid to Egypt last Tuesday. Meanwhile the United Arab Emirates proposed US$3 billion aid to fund Egypt as it desperately needed support for its economy. This was after the Egyptian army ousted the Islamist president of the country out of office last week.
Egypt struggled hard to pay for imports since 2011. This was after Hosni Mubarak was drove out of the presidency. The constant protests in the country lessened tourists and foreign investors, two of the main sources for foreign currency in the country.
Saudi offered US$2 billion central bank deposit and US$2 billion in energy products. Another US$1 billion was given in cash according to Ibrahim Alasssaf, KSA's Finance Minister.
Last June, the foreign reserves in the country fell by US$1.1 billion to US$14.9 billion. This represented less than three months of imports. The International Monetary Fund considered this to be at the minimum safe cushion. In the last five months of this year, the deficit of Egypt went nearly double from last year's US$16.2 billion according to the data of the Finance Ministry.
Join the Conversation