CAIRO (Arab News) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is in Saudi Arabia for an unscheduled visit to seek financial and other support to help Egypt get through the economic crisis gripping the country.
He was also expected to pass on a message from Washington about boosting oil production in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine and the consequent rise in oil prices.
“The visit is to last just a few hours at a time when the Egyptian regime is suffering from a brutal economic crisis, which started to emerge before the outbreak of the Russian war in Ukraine, and has worsened due to the repercussions of the fighting,” explained sources on Tuesday.
“President al-Sisi is really counting on Saudi Arabia to obtain an economic aid package, and additional shipments of Saudi oil, to secure the needs of the Egyptian market, in light of the unprecedented rise in prices that accompanied the Russian operation in Ukraine.”
Apparently, they added, the results of Sisi’s recent visit to Kuwait “were not at the level he hoped for” in terms of the economic support that he requested. “Sisi is going with a message to the Saudis that the situation in Egypt is on the verge of an explosion, and it may be difficult for everyone, especially the Persian Gulf states, to control its repercussions.”
The sources noted that the Egyptian leader is convinced that the oil-rich Persian Gulf countries are living their best days since the losses caused by the global pandemic, thanks to the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis on the oil market, which will make them able to lend him a helping hand to Egypt.
Speaking to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, they said that al-Sisi’s visit to Saudi Arabia will be followed during the next few days by a visit to the Sultanate of Oman. “He is scheduled to discuss with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq the possibility of his country supporting Cairo economically at the current time.”