By the end of 2014, Egypt is due to return $3 billion in Qatar bonds as maturity approaches. According to an anonymous source by news group Al Arabiya, Egypt will return $500 million on October 2014 and the last portion of $2.5 billion in November 2014.
Qatar has close ties with Egypt’s former government headed by ousted president Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood and provided Egypt with a $7.5 billion support fund.
However, after the political unrest following the ousting of Mursi in July 2013, Qatar’s funding support have been scattered. However, the Egyptian Interim government vowed to return the product of the Qatar bonds in Egypt. Despite a lack of communications between the two countries, Qatar remains a firm backer of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Other countries in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, had pledged support to the Interim government. The three countries openly showed their distrust with the Muslim Brotherhood, who the Interim government now considers as terrorists.
Qatar’s earlier investments had also reached maturity. Egypt’s central bank had returned $2 billion to Qatar after Qatar decided not to renew the deposits for a three-year bond.
Egypt’s economy remains in tatters as tourists and investors had fled the country as political unrest and violent protests continue.