RIYADH: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian President, met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on a brief visit late on Sunday, state media reported, as the North African country grapples with serious economic difficulties.
The President was greeted at Jeddah airport by the Crown Prince and was waved off again several hours later by him, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Very little details were given about the meeting, but import-dependent Egypt’s financial fortunes have plunged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent wheat prices are increasing, fuelling rampant inflation.
Saudi Arabia, which would host an Arab League summit in May, is also engaging in important de-escalation in the region, signaling a return to diplomatic relations with Iran after a seven-year gap.
SPA said they discussed regional and international developments and their efforts to address them. They also talked about tackling all issues of mutual concern.
Visit’s background
The visit comes after Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan said in January that the oil-rich country would stop providing unconditional aid to Egypt.
The editor-in-chief of a state-owned newspaper in Egypt was forced to apologize to the people of Saudi Arabia over an article at the time. An Egyptian official informed AFP that higher officials in Cairo intervened to defuse the squabbling.
The Egyptian pound’s value has fallen to its half in the past year, propelling annual inflation to 32.9 % in February.
Of the 34.2 billion dollars in Cairo’s foreign reserves in February -– a 20% drop from a year earlier –- some 28 billion dollars are deposits from wealthy Gulf allies.
But Sisi’s Gulf friends — on whose backing he relied after overthrowing the government of the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 — are now urging for economic reform and greater transparency in return for their support.
As part of its regional de-escalation, Saudi Arabia has announced negotiations with Syria on resuming consular services after a break of nearly ten years.
While in recent weeks, its ally Egypt has welcomed the foreign ministers of both Turkey and Syria for the first time in a decade. – AFP
