Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that Egypt is preparing to issue green bonds of about $500 million during the current fiscal year, which ends in June 2023. Maait added that the offering is linked to Egypt’s hosting of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in November.

Egypt sold $750 million in sovereign green bonds in September 2020. In March, Maait announced the issuance of bonds in the Japanese market worth 500 million dollars as part of a strategy to diversify sources of debt. In May, the Egyptian government said it planned to issue bonds in the Chinese market worth $400 million.

In the budget for the fiscal year 2022-2023, Egypt aims to obtain external financing by about 146.4 billion Egyptian pounds, compared to about 78.4 billion Egyptian pounds in the budget of the previous fiscal year. It also aims to issue international bonds equivalent to 91.5 billion Egyptian pounds and borrow 54.9 billion from international financing institutions other than the International Monetary Fund.

The Central Bank of Egypt said in August that external debt had risen to $157.8 billion at the end of the year’s first quarter. Egypt is supposed to repay more than $33.36 billion between March 2022 and March 2023, between loan instalments and interest on loans.