Kuwait pledges to provide Egypt $4bn in aid

Kuwait will provide $4bn in aid to Egypt, state news agency Kuna said on Wednesday, matching pledges by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that showed Gulf Arab approval of the Egyptian army’s ousting of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Kuna said the package would comprise a $2bn central bank deposit, a $1bn grant and $1bn in oil products,

On Tuesday Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates each pledged $4bn in aid to Egypt, where the army overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi a week ago after huge street demonstrations against the elected president.

Kuna did not say when the Kuwaiti aid would arrive.

Kuwait has in the past co-operated with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, pledging financial aid for Gulf neighbours hit by social unrest such as Bahrain and Oman, but also for Morocco and Jordan.

The aid from the three Gulf Arab oil producers is expected to help Egypt avoid a balance of payments crisis and overcome fuel shortages that partly stoked public anger against Morsi.