Egypt's Sisi heads to Saudi Arabia amid financial pressure, regional realignment

FILE PHOTO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (not pictured) at Al-Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt January 30, 2023. Khaled Desouki/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is travelling to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to three diplomatic sources, as Cairo continues to seek financial inflows to ease pressure on its currency and bolster a faltering economy.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has long provided financial support to Egypt but recently signalled it would no longer provide such backing without strings attached, which observers think may have sparked a rare media clash between the two countries.