Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi yesterday praised Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for supporting Egypt as it struggles to contain the economic crisis resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Saudi Arabia and the UAE have moved together to support Egypt without a request from Cairo,” Al-Sisi said. “This is an opportunity to thank them.”

He called on Arab countries with deposits in Egypt “to convert them into investments.”

Referring to Egypt’s over 100 million population, Al-Sisi stressed that the North African country had  “many promising investment opportunities.”

“We welcome our brothers to make investments in Egypt, and we are ready to provide them with all the support needed,” he said.

The Egyptian cabinet recently reported that investments from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar had amounted to around $12 billion.

In 2013, Egypt received a total of $41.8 billion in aid from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait after the military coup that ousted the country’s first democratically elected government headed by the late Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi.

Egypt faces a budget deficit of $20 billion, a debt-to-GDP ratio of 85 per cent and high prices for major commodities which are imported.