Kuwait transfers $1bn in fuel aid to Egypt

Kuwait has sent $1 billion worth of oil products to Egypt as part of a $4 billion package that the oil-rich country had earlier pledged to the crisis-hit country. Tarek al-Molla, chairman of the state-run Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that the fuel shipments included 4 million barrels of crude and nine shipments of diesel. Kuwait, however, deducted $250 million from the package to make up for overdue payments for previous diesel shipments, he noted. Kuwait, along with other Gulf nations, rushed to extend financial support to Egypt following the July 3 ouster of president Mohamed Morsi by Egypt's powerful military establishment. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates together pledged to provide Egypt with a total of $8 billion in assistance, which includes the delivery of badly-needed petroleum products. Kuwait, for its part, has pledged $4 billion in aid to Egypt. Egypt spends some $1.3 billion monthly to import petroleum products, which are then sold on the local market at subsidized prices, aggravating the losses suffered by state-owned oil marketers. Acute fuel shortages played a part in stoking the mass protests that culminated in the ouster of Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president. The country remains in urgent need of financial aid to face an ongoing foreign currency shortage, a sizable budget deficit, depreciation of the Egyptian pound, a sharp rise in inflation, and the collapse of the local tourism industry.