Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pledged a total of $8bn to Egypt to help prop up its ailing economy, highlighting the shake-up in regional political power after last week’s military coup in Cairo.

Riyadh has promised to send $5bn and Abu Dhabi $3bn in a mix of cash, central bank deposits and oil products, as the new Egyptian administration grapples to halt the slide in the pound and stave off a foreign exchange reserves crisis.

The funds are a much-needed “lifeline”, said Mohamed Abu Basha, an economist at EFG-Hermes, the regional investment bank. With foreign reserves standing at $14.9bn at the end of June and with $1bn worth of commitments to Paris club debtors in July, Egypt was dangerously close to dropping below three months of import cover, he said.