UAE considers request to increase aid to Egypt

A senior official at the UAE’s Ministry of Oil said that the UAE is considering an Egyptian request to renew oil aid in the last third of 2014.

The official’s statements come after a surprise visit by Egypt’s three ministers of finance, oil and investment to the UAE.

The official told the Anadolu news agency that the Egyptian government delegation that visited the UAE on July 6 requested aid be renewed.

Egypt is set to receive $1.4 billion worth of oil grants from the Gulf in July and August. This will be the last expected batch of aid from Gulf states to Egypt.

Since President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi ousted President-elect Mohamed Morsi on July 3, 2013, the aid provided to Egypt by Gulf states – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE – has reached $16.7 billion. Aid has taken the form of grants, deposits, oil materials – in addition to foreign direct investment, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Finance.

Saudi oil aid to Egypt, which is worth $700 million, is set to end next month.

Egypt has been suffering from an energy crisis, which caused the tensions that eventually led to the ouster of Morsi. But Oil aid provided to Egypt by Gulf countries has alleviated the energy crisis the country has suffered from; however the energy shortage is still ongoing.

The Egyptian regime had relied on Gulf aid, but the situation changed in the past two months after these countries decreased their aid to Egypt. The regime has changed its plan for the budget and raised fuel prices, cutting energy subsidies by 40 billion Egyptian pounds ($5.59 billion) for this fiscal year, which has caused an increase in the price of other goods including bread.