Money mystery

9 January 2013 By Una Galani Follow @ugalani

The aid package underscores the Gulf state’s support for the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. But it’s unclear when the funds were received. If the money came during the previous month, and has been spent, Egypt is in deep trouble. If it just arrived, sighs of relief are in order.

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Qatar said on Jan. 8 that it had lent Egypt another $2 billion and given it an extra $500 million outright.
The government said it expected an International Monetary Fund technical committee to visit Cairo in two to three weeks’ time to resume talks on a $4.8 billion loan.
“There was an initial package of $2.5 billion, of which $0.5 billion was a grant and $2 billion a deposit”, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told reporters, referring to the aid it has provided since Egypt’s uprising two years ago.
“We discussed transferring one of the deposits into an additional grant so that the grants became $1 billion and the deposits doubled to around $4 billion”, he said of the new aid after meeting Mursi.
Hamad added that the new Qatari grants and deposits with Egypt’s central bank had all arrived.
“Some of the final details with the deposits are being worked on with the technical people, but the amount is there”, he said.
The Egyptian pound has fallen around 5 percent against the dollar since Dec. 30 to 6.48.

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