ALBAWABA – After Egypt stated last month that the UAE would invest $35 billion along its Mediterranean coast, in accordance to a senior European Commission official, AFP reports that the European Union has decided to provide financially struggling Egypt with an economic assistance package worth 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion), which is scheduled to be inked in Cairo on Sunday.
Prior to the anticipated signature, an official told reporters on condition of anonymity that the cash includes a grant specifically for immigration difficulties and intends to assist Europe shift farther away from Russian gas with Egyptian energy imports.
The agreement would elevate the EU's alliance with Egypt to a "strategic partnership" as Reuters writes, while seeking to provide grants, loans, and other forms of financing to Egypt's exhausted economy over the course of the next three years, as well as to increase collaboration in trade, defense, and green energy.
Reuters added that the aforementioned funding will consist of 1.8 billion euros in investments, 600 million euros in grants, and 1 billion euros in macro-financial support in the form of urgent funding, which will be provided this year, with the remaining 4 billion euros, according to the official, will be contingent upon approval by the European parliament.
The governments across Europe have been consistently concerned about the possibility of unrest in Egypt, a 106 million-person nation that continues to be having difficulty raising foreign currency and from which economic hardship has forced a growing number of people to move abroad in recent years, with inflation hovering around record highs, a lot of Egyptians claim they are struggling to make ends meet.
