By: Heba El-Kordy
Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian finance ministry decided to cut the issuance of treasury bonds (T-bonds) next October by 68.5%, in line with cancelling four consecutive auctions for selling T-bonds in September.
Egypt is looking to issue T-bonds worth EGP 4.25 billion in October, versus cancelled T-bonds worth EGP 13.5 billion this month, the ministry said in a statement.
Egypt will face challenges regarding the hike in interest rates and foreign investor exit from the government debt market or the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), finance minister Mohamed Maait said.
He highlighted that offering local debt instruments will be canceled as long as interest rates remain high, stressing that the most populous Arab country has other alternatives to manage liquidity and address all risks.
For his part, Mahmoud El Masry, macroeconomics analyst at Pharaohs Research, said that the finance ministry will incline to boost the accepted amounts in treasury bills (T-bills) auctions despite their continuous rise as a short-term debt amid growing yields on T-bonds.
Egypt is planning to issue debt instruments worth EGP 192 billion in October.
Maait previously said that the government aims at easing debt to gross domestic product (GDP) to 92% this year.
The North African nation was targeting the issuance of three-year, five-year, seven-year, and 1-year T-bonds worth a combined EGP 13.5 billion in September.
Egypt will start the roadshow to promote its Eurobond issuances the week after next in the Asian and European markets, the minister added.
Translated by: Mai Ezz El-Din
