Qatar PM arrives in Cairo to meet President Morsi

Ahram Online, Tuesday 30 Apr 2013

With an offer in the backdrop to buy Egyptian $3 billion worth of treasury bonds, Qatari prime minister arrives in Cairo

Hamad Bin Jassim
Qatar Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassim (Photo:Reuters)

Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim, also minister of foreign affairs, has arrived in Cairo early Tuesday from New York.

PM Jassim in only planned to stay a few hours, during which he will meet with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

Receiving the Qatari PM at the airport were Egyptian Aviation Minister Wael El-Maadawi as well as Qatar's ambassador in Cairo.

Sources revealed on Monday that Qatar has requested an interest rate of 5 percent on the $3 billion worth of bonds it plans to buy from Egypt. No deal has been reached yet.

Qatar has already given Egypt $5 billion, including a $1 billion grant and $4 billion worth of deposits at the Central Bank of Egypt since the country's 2011 uprising.

A drop in foreign currency reserves and a problematic balance of payment deficit has prompted Egypt to seek help from other countries, including the Gulf states, Libya, Turkey and Russia.

Egypt is also seeking a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, but a deal has been lingering ever since negotiations restarted in March 2013.

Short link: