Ahmed Kattan, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Egypt (Photo: AP)
Saudi Arabia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Egyptian government stipulating that the kingdom assist Egypt with $500 million and deposit $1 billion in the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Saudi Arabia's embassy in Cairo announced in a Thursday statement.
Saudi ambassador Ahmad Abdul-Aziz Kattan declared that the MOU comes within the framework of ongoing Saudi financial support to post-revolution Egypt.
Reuters on Thursday quoted Egyptian Planning Minister Faiza Abul-Naga as saying that Saudi Arabia had already deposited $1 billion into Egypt's central bank as an eight-year deposit.
Kattan added that Saudi Arabia had also met an Egyptian request to import $250 million worth of butane gas.
Egypt said last year that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states had pledged billions of dollars in financial support. Until now, however, only $1 billion of this has been forthcoming, with Saudi Arabia and Qatar providing $500 million each.
Egypt has faced a foreign-currency liquidity crisis since last year's Tahrir Square uprising, which largely brought domestic economic activity to a halt. The country's once-extensive foreign reserves have been eroded by more than 50 per cent within the last twelve months.
Within this context, the country is currently negotiating a $3.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while seeking additional funds from international donors to help plug its balance-of-payments deficit.
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