According to the comments of the housing ministry and a source from the finance ministry, Egypt is developing plans to develop Ras Banas, a remote area on the Red Sea coast with the aim of attracting large-scale investment.

Ras Banas, a peninsula of 30 kilometres (19 miles) that stretches across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, in the extreme south of Egypt is one of the few areas of Egypt's coast not developed for tourism.

Egypt is seeking large-scale investment as it attempts to overcome its long-standing economic crisis, which has led to record-breaking inflation, an increasing debt burden and sharp devaluations of the currency over the last two years.

Early this year, the $24 billion sale of rights to develop Egypt's Mediterranean coastline's Ras El Hekma Peninsula to a UAE sovereign funds sparked speculation about future deals with Gulf investors.

Sherif El-Sherbiny, the Egyptian Housing Minister, said in media reports that on Saturday a strategic investment plan for Ras Banas is nearing completion and will be presented to investors.

A source in the finance ministry confirmed that Egypt is seeking investment in Ras Banas, and that Saudi Arabia may be interested. She also said that discussions had taken place for months about converting Saudi deposits held at the Egyptian Central Bank into direct investments.

Egypt is seeking large-scale investment as it attempts to overcome its long-running crisis, which has led to record-breaking inflation, an increasing debt burden and sharp devaluation of the currency over the last two years.

Loss of Suez Canal revenue due to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen exacerbated Egypt's chronic currency shortage. This was before Egypt signed the Ras El Hekma agreement with Abu Dhabi's ADQ, and secured billions of dollars in funding from international creditors.

The deal with ADQ included a conversion of $11 Billion in Dollar Deposits at Egypt's Central Bank.

According to data from the central bank of Egypt, Saudi Arabia holds $5.3 billion as medium- to longterm deposits. The bank also deposited $5 Billion in short-term deposits in 2022, which it is believed to have been rolled back since then.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund announced on Monday that it would invest $5 billion in Egypt after a meeting with the Egyptian Prime Minister and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Following the announcement, Egypt's government bond prices rose on Tuesday. Reporting by Mohamed Ezz, Editing by Aide Lewis and Keith Weir

(source: Reuters)