Egypt will return a $500 million deposit from Qatar, made last year during the presidency of Mohamed Morsi, following a request from Doha, the governor of Egypt’s central bank said Wednesday.
Hisham Ramez told Egyptian daily Al-Akhbar Tuesday that Qatar had not yet asked for the return of a $2.5 billion deposit which was due to be repaid in November.
He added that the central bank will reimburse that sum in case the Qatari government requests the money back.
Qatar backed Egypt with $7.5 billion in deposits during the presidency of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, but the relations between the two countries soured due to Doha’s opposition to Morsi’s ouster in July, 2013.
Doha has refused to renew other deposits upon their maturity.
By the end of 2013, Egypt had returned $3 billion to Qatar as the bonds matured.
Egypt’s net international reserves inched up to $16.8 billion in August, but are expected to decline if Egypt returns the two deposits.
Qatar’s Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have supported the interim authorities that replaced Mors, providing Egypt with billions of dollars in aid.