Saudi Arabia To Give Egypt Up To $4bn More Aid

Saudi Arabia is expected to give Egypt up to $4 billion in additional aid in the form of central bank deposits and petroleum products, state-run Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram reported on Thursday.

Citing an unnamed ministerial source, the newspaper said the package would be worked out during a visit next week to the Kingdom by Egypt’s interim prime minister Hazem el-Beblawi.

Gulf Arab states have showered Egypt with billions of dollars since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July.

The funds have kept the economy afloat during political turmoil which has hit investment and tourism hard.

Egypt will announce within days details of a second stimulus package since Mursi was ousted, its finance minister said on Tuesday, aiming to boost tepid growth rates and reassure investors.

The economy grew by just 1.04 per cent in the three months through last September from a year earlier, according to central bank data.