Egypt: Cairo turns to IMF and Iran as Saudis suspend support

In a series of bold and politically risky moves, the Egyptian government has attempted to stabilise its economy and reduce its dependence on financial support from the Gulf by devaluing its currency, reducing subsidies and turning to Iran as an alternative source of imported fuel. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s administration appears to be banking on the assumption that it can contain any public unrest provoked by domestic price rises and shortages of essential goods. It believes it can weather a geopolitical storm with its former patron, and that in the long term the economy will rest on firmer ground.