Turkey agrees on $2 bln package for Egypt

Turkish Deputy PM Babacan (L) headed a Turkish diplomatic group that met with an Egyptian mission on a possible financial support package for the North African country. AA photo

Turkey and Egypt have agreed on the framework of a $2 billion financial package for the recovering North African country.

The aid deal was reached at a meeting between Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and a high-ranking Egyptian mission to Turkey, headed by Egyptian Vice President Essam El Haddad, on Sept. 15. Egypt’s minister of finance, planning and international cooperation, Ashraf Al Araby, was also present on the team.

The two sides discussed recent developments in their respective countries, as well as potential areas of cooperation, trade relations and investment opportunities.

The aid package is designed to help strengthen Egypt’s foreign currency reserves and infrastructure investment plans, Egyptian Economy Minister Mumtaz al-Said said in a statement after the meeting. One billion dollars of the package will be in the form of bilateral loans.

Egypt is likely to need more than $10 billion in external financing to help revive its economy, battered after a revolt that toppled the country’s authoritarian government last year, a senior EU official said last week. The EU and other institutions and countries are considering financial support for Egypt in addition to a $4.8 billion loan that Cairo has requested from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Egypt will need more than this,” the official told a briefing ahead of a visit to Brussels by Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Sept. 13. “Probably Egypt will need more than double this amount, more than $10 billion.”

Earlier this month, Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, said the Gulf state would invest $18 billion in tourism and industry projects along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast over the next five years, Reuters reported.