CAIRO: Qatar is drawing up potential projects worth at least $10 billion to help Egypt's economy after the popular uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February, Al-Ahram newspaper reported Tuesday. Egypt has been asking donors and the International Monetary Fund to help to bridge an estimated $10-12 billion balance of payments gap for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, economists say. In the last week, Saudi Arabia, the United States and other international donors have also pledged assistance to Egypt. The uprising caused tourism and investment revenue to dry up at a time when high popular expectations have increased the pressure on the budget. Al-Ahram quoted Qatar's ambassador to Cairo as saying a Qatari delegation would hold talks in Cairo on Saturday to follow up on projects broached during a visit by Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, earlier this month. "I believe these projects, when implemented, will surpass $10 billion, and they will be productive products in Egypt," Al-Ahram quoted Ambassdor Saleh Al-Buainein as saying. Implementation of the projects would begin immediately, he said. Buainein said Qatar was also mulling purchases of Egyptian treasury bonds, an idea that had been brought up by Egypt's Finance Minister Samir Radwan during a recent visit to Qatar.
