Egypt has paid back $500 mln to Qatar - central bank governor

Egypt has paid back $500 million to Qatar and will soon return the remainder of the money the Gulf state deposited into the Egyptian central bank after the 2011 revolution, the bank's governor said on Saturday.

Qatar helped prop up the Egyptian economy in the aftermath of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak and eventually brought Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to power in Egypt's first democratic elections.

The monarchy, a strong supporter of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, provided some $7.5 billion in loans and grants during Mursi's year in power.

"Egypt has already transferred $500 million to Qatar on Oct. 1 and will refund $2.5 billion at the beginning of November, because they (Qatar) did not ask for renewal," Hisham Ramez told Reuters on the sidelines of IMF and World Bank meetings.

If Egypt pays back the $2.5 billion in addition to the $500 million already paid, it will have returned all of Qatar's post-revolution deposits.