Aid pledged to Egypt last month by oil-rich Kuwait will be delivered soon, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Governor Hisham Ramez told Turkish news agency Anadolu on Tuesday.
Kuwait was one of three sympathetic Gulf nations, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to shower Egypt with aid pledges totalling $12 billion early very soon after the country deposed its Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July.
While Egypt has received $5 billion of the Emirati and Saudi pledges, Kuwait, which promised $4 billion, only delivered $200 million’s worth of crude oil and diesel to Egypt in mid-July.
Although Kuwaiti authorities had not given Ramez a date, the Gulf country assured Anadolu there were no problems delaying the promised funds.
However, Kuwaiti Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mostafa Al-Shamali told the Kuwaiti Al-Rai newspaper in mid-July that the aid would reach Egypt well before the end of the month.
Ramez explained that while the $1 billion grant, which is part of the aid package, required the approval of the Kuwaiti parliament, there were no difficulties impeding the delivery of the $1 billion interest-free deposit at the CBE, nor the $2 billion worth of fuel.
The promised aid had drawn criticism from members of the Kuwaiti parliament and politicians, who objected to granting Egypt such a large amount.
In a response, which fuelled the controversy, Al-Shamali had said that the government had the final say, adding that: "Egypt deserves all the best and support from Arab brothers."
"The government's decision to give Egypt the grant might have justifications in foreign policy, but the minister's declaration is provocative and inappropriate," Sabr news website quoted writer and Kuwait University Professor Salah Al-Fadli as saying at the time.a
