KSA offers $1.5bn to fund Sinai projects

نيسان ـ

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arabnews

The Kingdom has offered $1.5 billion to help finance economic projects in the Sinai Peninsula, as Riyadh continues to bolster its ties with Cairo.

Saudi Arabia has previously offered billions of dollars in aid to Egypt since the 2013 ouster of President Muhammad Mursi.

In December, Riyadh pledged $8 billion dollars in investment and aid to Egypt over five years.

Egypt’s International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr signed a “$1.5 billion agreement with the Saudi Development Fund for developing projects in the Sinai Peninsula,” a ministry statement said.

The funds will be used “for development projects” in agriculture and to build 26 residential complexes that would also include hospitals and schools.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia also signed a separate five-year agreement to help Egypt finance its petrol needs, the ministry said.

The fuel agreement comes despite a sharp fall in oil earnings amid the global decline in crude prices.

Sunday’s agreements come ahead of an official visit by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to Cairo on April 4.

Ties between Cairo and Riyadh have strengthened since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi took over in July 2013, with Egypt joining a Saudi-led coalition that has battled Iran-backed rebels in Yemen since March last year.

Egypt’s Gulf allies Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE each offered $4 billion in investment and aid to Cairo in March 2015.