Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that the value of foreign investments in local debt instruments ranged between 28 and 29 billion USD at the end of last May. Maait added, during a press conference, that Egypt asked the United Nations to cooperate in the possibility of issuing sustainable bonds, which is one of the new types of issues.

He explained that by issuing sustainable bonds, Egypt would become the first country in Africa and the Middle East to issue this type of bond, as happened with green bonds. He stated that according to Egypt’s circumstances, it is not a requirement that all types of bonds be issued within one year but that Egypt is open to all financing instruments and their diversification. He stated that the preparation for the offering takes a long time, as traditional bonds take between three and four months, according to his statements.

On the other hand, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said that it sold one-year dollar-denominated treasury bills at a value of $540.6 million, with an average return of 3.088 percent, according to what was reported by Reuters. The CBE announcement came despite the denial by Finance Minister Mohamed Maait a few days ago that the country intends to issue international bonds before June 30, which is the end of the fiscal year in Egypt.

The Central Bank of Egypt said that the required value of the bid was $500 million and that coverage rates were 1.08 times. He stated that financial institutions and investors made about 24 offers worth $540.6 million, all of which were approved by the Central Bank.

The Central Bank indicated that the average interest rate for accepted offers amounted to 3.088 percent, down from 3.095% in the last bid for the same term last May. It is noteworthy that Egypt has a tough debt schedule this year, totaling more than 12 billion dollars, according to data from the CBE.