CAIRO: Egypt announced Wednesday it is offering citizenship to foreign investors willing to spend at least $250,000 in the country, as it struggles to fill its depleted coffers. According to state newspaper Al-Ahram, a decision by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli published in the official gazette, says the premier can now “grant Egyptian nationality” to applicants that meet one of four conditions.

Foreigners can either buy at least $300,000 of real estate in Egypt, invest $350,000 in the country, deposit $500,000 in an Egyptian bank account or “make a non-refundable $250,000 deposit in direct revenues in foreign currency into the state’s public treasury”.

It is the latest in a series of measures by the government to woo foreign investment into Egypt, which is sapped dry of dollars and battling crippling inflation.