PM Madbouly reveals Egypt has received $14B from Ras El Hekma agreement with UAE

Cairo – May 15, 2024: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that the UAE has transferred the second tranche of payments for the development rights of Ras El Hekma, disclosing that the $14 billion was officially received in a Wednesday cabinet meeting.

In an official statement, Madbouly also stated that Egypt is working with the UAE to waive an Emirati deposit of $6 billion in the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and convert it to Egyptian pounds (LE 280 billion).

The $35 billion deal, which sold the rights to develop the North Coast area of Ras El Hekma to the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund (ADQ), is considered one of the largest of its kind and injected much needed foreign currency to handle a growing FX shortage.

In February, the CBE and UAE were reported to be coordinating to convert $11 billion worth of UAE deposits into the local currency.

Yesterday, local media reported that Egypt is expected to allocate around $11 billion to pay off some of its external debt.

The country’s foreign debt was recorded at $168 billion during H1 of FY2023/2024, climbing by $3.3 billion from $164.7 billion reported at the end of the previous fiscal year.