UAE delivers $3 billion aid to Egypt

Egypt’s central bank said it received $3 billion in aid from the UAE on Thursday, part of $12 billion that Gulf Arab states pledged after the military ousted Islamist President Mohammad Mursi early this month.

Central bank governor Hisham Ramez said in a text message to Reuters that the aid had arrived.

The UAE said last week that it would provide Egypt with $1 billion as a grant and a $2 billion loan in the form of an interest-free central bank deposit. Saudi Arabia pledged $5 billion and Kuwait, $4 billion.

The Saudi funds comprise a $2 billion central bank deposit, $2 billion in energy products, and $1 billion in cash. Egypt has struggled to pay for imports since the 2011 uprising that pushed Hosni Mubarak out of the presidency drove away tourists and foreign investors, two of its main sources of foreign currency.