Saudi Arabia has deposited $5 billion into Egypt’s central bank to shore up the economy of the most populous Arab country, which is under intense pressure from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency said the funds deposited were part of the country’s “relentless efforts” to support Egypt. Cairo announced last week that it is seeking support from the International Monetary Fund after the war sent wheat, cooking oil and fuel prices soaring and reduced tourist flows from Russia and Ukraine, both markets for its key tourism industry. market.

Egypt, one of the IMF’s largest borrowers after Argentina, has turned to the fund twice in the past six years and has exceeded its quota of borrowing rights at the IMF and could be swept away by analysts, analysts say. The country requires to secure co-financing from other sources. Deposits from Saudi Arabia will help meet this condition.

In addition to Saudi Arabia’s cash, the country, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have also expressed willingness to invest billions of dollars in the Egyptian economy.

“The Gulf countries are providing Egypt with different types of support, whether it be investments or cash deposits,” said Mohamed Abu Basha, head of macroeconomic analysis at Cairo-based regional investment bank EFG-Hermes.

Cairo and Riyadh signed an agreement to encourage Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to invest in Egypt, Egypt’s cabinet said on Wednesday. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the Saudi Public Investment Fund would invest up to $10 billion in “future periods”. There is no firm date attached to these investments.

A day earlier, Qatar announced the signing of an agreement to invest $5 billion in Egypt during the visit of its foreign and finance ministers in Doha.

Bloomberg reported last week that the UAE is in discussions to buy a $2 billion stake in the Egyptian government’s successful company listed on the Egyptian stock exchange. These include an 18 percent stake in Commercial International Bank, Egypt’s largest private bank, and a 13 percent stake in electronic payments company Fawry.

In 2013, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the current president and former defense minister, ousted his elected predecessor, Mohamed Morsi, from the Muslim Brotherhood. Afterwards, Saudi Arabia and the UAE stepped in to support Egypt’s economy in 2013. The Islamic group, now outlawed in Egypt and charged with terrorism, is seen as a threat by the Gulf monarchy, which has welcomed Morsi’s fall.

Cairo’s relationship with Qatar has been strained for much of the past decade because of its support for the Brotherhood, but the two countries mended the rift last year as part of a broader Arab reconciliation.

Soaring commodity prices and the withdrawal of billions of dollars from debt markets forced Egypt to devalue its currency last week before announcing its appeal to the International Monetary Fund.

Cairo is the world’s largest importer of wheat, and its bread subsidy program serves some 70 million people—about two-thirds of the population. In recent years, Egypt has relied on offering one of the highest real interest rates in the world to attract “hot money” or foreign money into its short-term debt market.