Saudi Arabia has pledged new support for Egypt’s economy in the form of oil assistance and US$8 billion in additional investments in the country.
The announcement comes as Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman was in Cairo on Tuesday.
He was quoted in the Saudi Press Agency as saying that King Salman ordered 30 billion riyals ($8 billion) in investments, contribution to Egypt’s needs for oil for a period of five years and support for traffic in the Suez Canal by Saudi ships. No further details were given.
Egypt received pledges of $12 billion from Gulf Arab allies at an investment conference in March where President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged foreign investors to help Egypt recover from the turmoil since the 2011 uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak.
About $6 billion has been deposited in Egypt's central bank to help replenish its dwindling foreign currency reserves.
