Egypt's president praises UAE, seeking to heal Gulf aid rift

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi offered effusive praise Monday for the United Arab Emirates, seeking to repair a rift between Cairo and the Gulf Arab states that have supplied billions of dollars in aid to his nation.

El-Sissi has relied on handouts from Gulf Arab states to keep his country's economy afloat since seizing power in a 2013 coup, with estimates suggesting over $100 billion in Gulf money has gone to Cairo via Central Bank deposits, fuel aid and other support since then.

But in recent weeks, Gulf Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, have begun signaling that they want to see more reforms from countries receiving their aid — particularly as nations worldwide struggle with inflation and the fallout from Russia's war on Ukraine. That likely would affect Egypt, which already is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to reform.

“We used to give direct grants and deposits without strings attached and we are changing that," Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. “We need to see reforms. We are taxing our people. We are expecting also others to do the same, to do their efforts. We want to help but we want you also to do your part.”

In Kuwait, at least one lawmaker has begun asking about the billions loaned to Egypt and whether any of those funds had been repaid. While leaders in the United Arab Emirates haven't commented publicly on its aid packages, it too has its own development plans and is being asked to deliver aid to earthquake-stricken Turkey and Syria.

Earlier this month, an opinion piece in the Egyptian state-owned newspaper Al-Gomhorya argued that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states had no right to criticise the Egyptian government’s handling...