Kuwait allows Egypt 5 years to repay $2 billion deposit,PM

The Gulf Arab state of Kuwait will allow Egypt to repay a $2 billion central bank deposit over five years instead of the current one-year timeframe, Egypt’s interim prime minister said on Sunday.

Kuwait agreed to give Egypt the extended repayment period for the deposit, Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said in an interview aired late Sunday night on a private television channel.

Egypt’s central bank received the $2 billion deposit from Kuwait on Sept. 26. It was part of a $4 billion aid package pledged by Kuwait after the Egyptian army overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3.

Egyptian officials had asked the Gulf Arab oil producer for the five-year repayment period, consistent with the terms of the recent aid packages from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Kuwait had matched pledges by the other two nations, showing Gulf Arab approval of the Egyptian army’s ousting of Mursi. The total promised aid to Egypt is worth $12 billion.

Reuters

Photo: Egypt’s Hazem el-Beblawi looks on during a group meeting of Gulf and Arab Finance Ministers in Abu Dhabi, September 7, 2011. REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh