Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Qatar transfers $1bn to Egypt to meet interim finance needs

By Pramod Kumar
City, Street, Urban Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Egypt's annual urban consumer inflation quickened to a five-year high of 18.7% in November 2022

Qatar Investment Authority has deposited $1 billion with Egypt’s central bank amid talks to acquire stakes in some state-owned entities, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed informed sources.

Due diligence on the assets and finalising a deal will likely take time; therefore, the $445 billion sovereign fund deposited the cash to help Egypt meet its interim finances, sources added.

The news agency reported last month that Qatar was in advanced talks over a deal worth about $2.5 billion. 

Recently, ratings agency S&P has raised Qatar’s long-term sovereign credit rating to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-‘, citing improvements in the government’s fiscal position.

“Qatar’s debt interest costs as a share of government revenue have fallen, and we expect them to remain low because the government is repaying maturing debt,” the agency said in a statement.

S&P believed higher oil prices should result in strong government surpluses in 2022-2023.

Qatar, which hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup this month, is one of the world’s largest exporters of natural gas and has benefited from huge windfalls from soaring global oil and gas prices.

Latest articles

Fakeeh IPO

Institutions snap up share of Fakeeh Care Group IPO in minutes

Institutional investors snapped up their slice of shares in the Saudi healthcare conglomerate Fakeeh Care Group within minutes of the start of the book-building process for the company’s IPO. Fakeeh Care Group, which was founded in Jeddah in 1978, has set the price range for its initial public offering (IPO) at between SAR53 ($14.13) and […]

Lebanon EU aid

Lebanon to receive $1bn in financial aid from the EU

A financial aid package for Lebanon from the EU valued at more than $1 billion was announced on Thursday by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.  The money, most of which will be grants, will be made available over the next three years. Some will go towards helping to control the flow of […]

UAE minister of industry and advanced technology and Adnoc group CEO Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber (top centre) will become chairman of AIQ

Presight takes majority stake in Adnoc-G42 AI venture

The data analytics company Presight is acquiring a majority stake in AIQ, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and G42. Under the agreement, Presight, an Abu Dhabi-listed company, will own 51 percent of AIQ, with Adnoc keeping the remaining 49 percent, a statement released on Wednesday said.  Previously, G42 held 40 […]

Saudi Arabia is looking to shift traffic to its railways to improve road safety and reduce carbon emissions from car usage

Passenger numbers on Saudi trains leap 23% in a year

Passenger traffic on Saudi railways rose 23 percent year on year to 2.7 million people in the first quarter of 2024, the state operator said this week, as the kingdom pushes to improve infrastructure before a 2030 deadline.  The railway system also saw a 9 percent rise in the volume of minerals and goods transported, […]