Egypt's Central Bank says it has paid back USD 2 billion to Qatar as relations between the two Arab countries have chilled following the military overthrow of Egypt's Islamist president.
Hesham Ramez, the head of Egypt's Central Bank, said today the money was returned after Qatar asked officials to postpone the conversion of the funds to bonds as earlier agreed. Ramez spoke to The Seventh Day news website. An official at Ramez's office confirmed the comments.
Over the past year, Qatar gave the government of Egypt's former President Mohammed Morsi some USD 8 billion in aid. Morsi was toppled in a popularly backed military coup July 3.
Since then, Qatar has been sidelined by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Those nations have promised $12 billion in aid.
