Egyptian Cabinet approves the issuance of EGP bonds in foreign markets

CAIRO – 17 August 2023: The Egyptian Cabinet gives the greenlight for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to start issuing bonds in Egyptian pounds in foreign markets.

The IFC’s issuance of bonds in the local currency will benefit Egypt through increasing in IFC’s investment portfolio in Egypt, and the availability of additional sources in foreign currency. In addition to expanding the range of financing solutions in local currency offered and diversifying and encouraging the financing sources available to the private sector in Egypt.

The Cabinet also approved a draft decision regarding the Seventh The Structural Adjustment Facility between Egypt and the Arab Monetary Fund, within the framework of continuous efforts to benefit from the available resources of international and regional financing institutions and provides the necessary foreign exchange resources to support structural reform efforts in the banking and financial sector.

Since February 2022, Egypt has devalued the EGP by almost 50 percent as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which led to severe shortage in foreign currency in Egypt.

In December 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 46-month program for Egypt with a value of $3 billion. The first payment of $347 million was received by Egypt from the IMF in December, and the remaining payments were scheduled to be received in March and September of each year from 2023 to 2026. The due payments have not yet been received, and the upcoming review is expected to take place in September.