UPDATE 1-Egypt receives second payment of $14 bln from UAE for Ras al-Hikma project

The cabinet said in February that the UAE and the Egyptian central bank were working to convert $11 billion worth of UAE deposits into Egyptian pounds. Egypt has been struggling with a prolonged shortage of foreign currency and rapid inflation and the cash injection from the first two tranches helped alleviate currency pressures.

Egypt received $14 billion from the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday as a second payment for the development of Ras al-Hikma peninsula, a cabinet statement said.

The deal with Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ to develop the peninsula 200 km west of Alexandria includes a total of $35 billion in investments and is one of the biggest deals of its kind. Egypt has also started working with the UAE to waive an Emirati deposit of $6 billion in the Egyptian central bank and convert its value to the equivalent in Egyptian pounds (EGP), Egyptian prime minister Mostafa Madbouly added in the statement.

Egypt received $5 billion as a first payment in the property development deal in February and another $5 billion tranche on March 1. The cabinet said in February that the UAE and the Egyptian central bank were working to convert $11 billion worth of UAE deposits into Egyptian pounds.

Egypt has been struggling with a prolonged shortage of foreign currency and rapid inflation and the cash injection from the first two tranches helped alleviate currency pressures.