Egypt to repay $2.5B Qatari deposit by end of November

Egypt will repay a $2.5 billion deposit to Qatar at the end of November, bringing to $6 billion the deposits it has returned to the Gulf Arab gas exporter since last year’s ouster of Islamist President Mohammad Morsi, a central bank source said.

At the same time, a government source said Egypt received $1 billion this week from Kuwait, one of several other Gulf states which have stepped in to support Egypt since Morsi was toppled by former army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Qatar had helped prop up the Egyptian economy in the aftermath of the 2011 uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak and eventually brought Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood to power in the country’s first democratic elections.

The tiny Gulf state, a supporter of the Brotherhood, provided Morsi’s government with billions of dollars in deposits, grants and energy supplies during his year in power.