Gulf states pledge $22 billion to Egypt
Egypt’s Gulf allies have pledged as much as $22 billion to help the country cope with the effects of the war in Ukraine.
The aid from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will come in the form of central bank deposits and investments, according to government and media reports..
The Arab Gulf states recently pledged to provide up to 22 billion US dollars to help Egypt achieve balance in the global foreign exchange markets and compensate for foreign investments fleeing the Egyptian treasury markets in the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
“This is a difficult time for Egypt as it suffers from declining tourist flows, high food prices, and greater financing challenges as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis,” said Hoda El-Mallah, head of the Cairo-based International Center for Economics.
The economic expert told Xinhua that the Gulf investment boom in Egypt will help overcome the currency crisis and protect the economy from impending shocks.
The Central Bank of Egypt allowed the local currency to decline by 14 percent on March 21 after its stability against the dollar since November 2020, stressing “the importance of foreign exchange flexibility to serve as a shock absorber.”
El-Mallah added that the central bank's move and Gulf inflows would encourage foreign investors to return to high-interest and short-term Egyptian treasury bonds after many investors withdrew billions of dollars in March.
Saudi Arabia said last week that it had deposited $5 billion with the central bank in light of the kingdom's efforts to support the Egyptian economy. Meanwhile, Cairo and Riyadh signed an agreement aimed at attracting investments worth ten billion dollars in cooperation with the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Qatar also pledged $5 billion in investment deals in Egypt, the first of its kind since the restoration of bilateral relations between the two countries in January 2021.
Local media reported that Abu Dhabi's sovereign fund AD agreed to buy stakes worth $2 billion in some state-owned companies in Egypt, including major listed banks.
The economist said that the initiatives in support of the Arab Gulf states come at a time when the economic challenges in Egypt were exacerbated by external factors, referring to the US Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point for the first time since 2018, which caused an outflow of billions from Egypt. Dollars of hot money from Cairo to Washington.
Al-Mallah added, "Gulf aid is a very good step to increase dollar flows, prevent a deficit in the balance of payments and enhance economic stability in Egypt at a time when a wave of inflation is hitting the world, which has led to a rise in commodity prices."
Walid Gaballah, professor of financial and economic disciplines at Cairo University, indicated that Egypt and the Gulf countries enjoy strong relations amid the existing strategic partnership between the two sides, describing it as a "win-win."
"Injecting Gulf deposits and low-cost loans with the Central Bank will support the reserves and bridge the financing gap facing the Egyptian economy," Gaballa said.
He said that the timing of the Gulf support is important to Egypt as it seeks to obtain a loan from the International Monetary Fund, adding that Gulf investments and loans will support Egypt in meeting the requirements of the International Monetary Fund to increase private sector activities and contain inflation. (There is neither might nor power except with God: ROFLMAO
On March 23, the Egyptian government requested the support of the International Monetary Fund to implement its comprehensive economic program amid the rapidly changing global environment and the repercussions related to the conflict in Ukraine.
Credit rating agency Fitch said in early March that the Russia-Ukraine crisis was likely to raise the cost of external financing for emerging markets such as Egypt, which are considering inflows of risk-averse investors.
Gaballah pointed out that the Egyptian economy is facing great pressures, saying that "its imports are nearly twice as much as exports, revenues from the Suez Canal, tourism and remittances from expatriates are still insufficient to bridge the financial gap."
The volume of non-residential investment in the local bond market in Egypt reached $28.8 billion by the end of 2021, according to official statistics.
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