Multi-Billion Gulf Power Play Focuses on Egypt as Mideast War Rages
- Egypt floated currency and hiked interest rates on Wednesday
- Kingdom’s in talks with Egypt about Red Sea investment deal
Ras Gamila is just north of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Photographer: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
In barely 10 days, Egypt has gone from the brink of economic disaster to unlocking over $40 billion of investments and loans from the United Arab Emirates and International Monetary Fund, with the likelihood of more to come from Saudi Arabia and others.
On Wednesday, as part of that, it delivered its biggest-ever interest-rate hike and allowed its currency to weaken around 38% through a long-awaited flotation. Hours later, the IMF agreed to more than double an existing rescue package to $8 billion.