Saudi Arabia deposits $3bn in Egypt's central bank

CAIRO: The Saudi finance ministry said on Sunday the Kingdom had deposited $3 billion with Egypt’s central bank and extended the term of another $2.3 bln in previous deposits.

“The Kingdom recently placed a deposit worth $3 billion at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), in addition to extending the term of the existing deposits of $2.3 billion,” the ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia as of end-March had long-term deposits with Egypt’s central bank of $5.5 billion, CBE data showed.

The Saudi statement appeared to suggest the total size of its Egypt deposits had changed little since then.

Later on Sunday, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan told Al Arabiya TV the kingdom’s latest deposit in the Central Bank of Egypt was for the long-term.

Saudi Arabia also deposited $3 billion with Pakistan’s central bank and extended $1.2 billion of trade finance to support Pakistan’s balance of payments, the Saudi statement said.

“The Kingdom is one of the main countries that supported the foreign reserves of needy countries during the pandemic,” it added.