Cairo – Mubasher: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 18 billion on Thursday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The first tranche of the T-bills will be offered through 182-day notes at EGP 8.75 billion, while the second tranche amounts to EGP 9.25 billion and will be through 364-day notes, the CBE said via its official website.
The issuance will be used to finance the budget deficit, the CBE added.
Egypt’s finance minister previously stated that total foreign holdings of the country's sovereign debt registered $15.8 billion in February.
The most populous Arab nation's debt instruments, especially T-bills, are seen as attractive to foreign investors owing to their high yield. State-run banks are the largest holders of the government’s debt instruments.
The North African state plans to reduce government debt to 92% of gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal year 2018/2019, along with financing the state budget deficit by EGP 511.2 billion.
Egypt aims to issue EGP 409.6 billion T-bills and EGP 101.6 billion bonds in FY18/19.
