In a report from Qatari newspaper Youm 7, the Gulf kingdom had agreed last Monday to convert its USD2 billion deposit with the Egyptian central bank into bonds. The paper had quoted Qatar's central bank governor Hisham Ramez.
This proposed conversion nearly did not come into fruition when an official of the Qatari Central Bank said that talks were ongoing. This official also confirmed that the Egyptian government was prepared to pay the full USD2 billion that Qatar deposited with the Egyptian central bank should the conversion of the funds into bonds fell through.
The central bank governor of Qatar was not immediately available to provide a comment on the news report.
The relations between the Cairo and Doha governments became sour after the coup by the Egyptian Army that removed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi last July 3. Qatar was a firm supporter of Mursi's political party, with nearly USD7.5 billion in aid or loans provided during Mursi's reign.
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