The latest Emirati deposit of one billion dollars to Egypt is “timely” and contributes to the stability of the pound, said the governor of the Egyptian central bank (CBE) on Wednesday.
In his statements to the Emirati state-owned news agency, WAM, Tarek Amer said that the deposit will support Egypt’s foreign reserves enough to maintain the stability of the Egyptian pound in the coming period.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Monday that it will give the CBE a deposit of one billion dollars over the next six years.
Investment banks have stated that this deposit of dollars was made to accelerate the receipt of the IMF loan, and to support Egypt’s plan of floating its currency against the dollar within the next few weeks.
The IMF said on Aug. 11 it had reached a staff-level agreement with Egypt for a $12 billion three-year funding facility to support a government reform programme.
The deal is subject to the approval of the IMF executive committee.
An IMF mission headed by Chris Jarvis began its visit to Egypt on Jul. 30 to complete negotiations over the loan programme and discuss policies that can help Egypt meet its current economic challenges.
The Egyptian economy is grasping at every chance to collect financial assistance as Gulf support has kept the Egyptian economy afloat for the past few years.
The economy has been struggling since a mass uprising in 2011 ushered in political instability that drove away tourists and foreign investors, both major earners of foreign currency. The turmoil has seen foreign reserves more than halve from some $36 billion before the uprising to $15.536 billion in July.
Source: Aswat Masriya
