Gulf state aid to help boost foreign currency reserves

Egyptian Finance Minister Ahmed Galal Egypt\'s Minister of Finance Dr Ahmed Galal announced that Egypt has received $12 billion from Arab countries as economic aid .
Galal affirmed that the government will allocate $9 billion to boost the country\'s cash reserve, whilst $3 billion will be used to purchase strategic commodities.
Egypt\'s foreign reserves stood at around $36 billion in January 2011 but fell to $14.9 billion in over two years of political turmoil.
Furthermore, the Egyptian pound lost 22 percent of its value against the dollar.
The finance minister expressed his government\'s keenness to support the private sector and have it play an important role in the economy, but the role of these instruments in the coming period was yet to be determined.