EGYPT TO GET $5BN IN FRESH AID FROM SAUDI ARABIA: SOURCE

     Cairo, 28  Muharram 1435/1 December 2013 (MINA) – A new package of Saudi financial aid to Cairo will be announced within a few days, a high-ranking Egyptian Finance Ministry official said on Sunday.

    The package amounts to $5 billion, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency on the phone.

    He said negotiations between Cairo and Riyadh over the package lasted for a month and that the package would be in the form of grants, a deposit at the Central Bank of Egypt and petroleum products.

    The official added that the aid package is expected to include $1 billion in non-refundable grants, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting..

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    “There is a government plan to use the new aid package in stimulating the economy and reviving stagnant economic sectors, particularly construction, tourism and investment,” the source said.

    He added that the stimulus plan would also involve a government drive to reduce unemployment and bring the budget deficit down to 10 percent during this fiscal year, from 14 percent last year.

     Saudi Arabia had already offered Egypt $5 billion in financial aid following the ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi by the army.

    Previous, at the end of October, Egypt secured $2.9 billion in additional aid from the United Arab Emirates to fund development projects, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

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     The U.A.E. announced yesterday a $4.9 billion package to help the Egyptian economy recover after the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July. The amount includes a $1 billion grant to the central bank transfered in July and about $1 billion already being used to help meet Egypt’s fuel and hydrocarbon needs.

     Egypt will use the aid to finance infrastructure projects to revive an economy that’s been stuck in the worst slowdown in two decades since the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

    The Egyptian central bank has received $7 billion in aid from the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to bolster foreign exchange reserves after the military removed Mursi from power.

     Gulf aid has led Egypt to suspend efforts to seek an $4.8 billion IMF loan it had pursued to boost growth and cut one of the highest budget deficits in the Middle East. (T/P09/E1).

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).