The Gulf Arab state of Kuwait will
allow Egypt to repay a $2 billion central bank deposit over five
years instead of the current one-year timeframe, Egypt's interim
prime minister said on Sunday.
Kuwait agreed to give Egypt the extended repayment period
for the deposit, Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi said in an
interview aired late Sunday night on a private television
channel.
Egypt's central bank received the $2 billion deposit from
Kuwait on Sept. 26. It was part of a $4 billion
aid package pledged by
Kuwait after the
Egyptian army overthrew
Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3.
Egyptian officials had asked the Gulf Arab oil producer for
the five-year repayment period, consistent with the terms of the
recent aid packages from
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates.
Kuwait had matched pledges by the other two nations, showing
Gulf Arab approval of the
Egyptian army's ousting of Mursi. The
total promised aid to
Egypt is worth $12 billion.