First part of Qatar’s $2b Egypt grant paid

Qatar has paid Egypt $500 million, the Egyptian finance minister announced on Thursday, in the first instalment of $2 billion of financial support it had promised to Cairo.

By (AFP)

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Published: Fri 24 Aug 2012, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 12:17 PM

“$500 million have been paid into the finance ministry’s account via the Central Bank [of Egypt],” Egypt’s official Mena news agency quoted Finance Minister Mumtaz Al Said as saying.

The minister said Qatar would pay the remaining funds in September, reminding that the Gulf state had also given Egypt an additional $500 million in October last year.

Egypt on Wednesday asked for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, during a visit by director Christine Lagarde to Cairo. The IMF, for its part, stressed the need for a reform programme to deal with the country’s economic crisis. The meeting with Lagarde sent a “signal to investors... of a revival for the Egyptian economy,” said the minister.

Qatar’s decision to give $2 billion in financial aid to Egypt followed a recent meeting in Cairo between President Mohamed Morsi and the Amir of Qatar, His Highness Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.


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