Egypt's cash-strapped government received Thursday a $3 billion deposit from Qatar that will eventually go toward its dwindling foreign-currency reserves, a top central-bank official said Sunday.

The aid, which was promised by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani last month, will remain on hold with the central bank until Egypt 's Ministry of Finance issues bonds of the same worth to Qatar .

The three-year bonds will carry a 3.5% interest rate, according to the central bank official who asked not to be named.

Qatar previously said it would provide Egypt with $5 billion in loans and grants since Egypt 's Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, was elected last June. Last month, Sheikh Hamad and his Egyptian counterpart, Hisham Qandil, held discussions to strengthen bilateral ties between their countries.

The gas-rich Gulf state also promised to provide Egypt with gas supplies during the strenuous summer months in which the Arab world's most populous nation suffers constant power cuts and fuel shortages.

Egypt is currently in the throes of trying to secure a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in order to bring back lost confidence in its financial market. The country's foreign-currency reserves currently stand at $14.42 billion. In April, the bank's foreign reserves grew for the first time in five months after Egypt received a $2 billion loan from Libya .

Egypt 's economic turmoil has heightened since the political uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak and his government two years ago. Since then, Egypt has bled through nearly two-thirds of its $36 billion in foreign reserves.
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