Qatar pays Egypt first instalment of $2b grant

Cairo: Qatar has paid Egypt $500 million (Dh1.8 billion), the Egyptian finance minister has said, in the first instalment of $2 billion of financial support the Gulf country had promised to Cairo.

“$500 million have been paid into the finance ministry’s account via the Central Bank [of Egypt],” Egypt’s official MENA news agency quoted Finance Minister Mumtaz Al Saeed as saying.

The minister said Qatar would pay the remaining funds in September, reminding that the Gulf country had also given Egypt an additional $500 million in October last year.

Egypt, which is facing serious economic challenges, on Wednesday asked for a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, during a visit by director Christine Lagarde to Cairo.

The IMF, for its part, stressed the need for a reform programme to deal with the country’s economic crisis.

The meeting with Lagarde sent a “signal to investors... of a revival for the Egyptian economy”, said the minister.