Egypt aims to issue $6-7B Eurobonds in 2018/19

CAIRO – 11 April 2018: Egypt plans to issue $6-7 billion Eurobonds in the new fiscal year 2018/19, Finance Minister Amr el-Garhy said Wednesday.

This comes two days after Egypt raised $2.46 billion in a euro-denominated bond sale with maturities of eight and 12 years at rates of 4.75 and 5.625 percent respectively.

Garhy said that Egypt resorts to debt because it is in need for it, adding that the country’s foreign debt is within safe limits.

He said that investment in Egypt’s debt instruments reached more than $20 billion since the decision to float the Egyptian pound in late 2016.

Monday's issuance saw high interest from investors, attracting an overall €7.5 billion in orders from 350 investors from 35 different countries.

Garhy said that proceeds from the sale will be directed to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to support foreign reserves, while the equivalent value in Egyptian pounds will be directed to finance the budget deficit.

The issuance was the second in 2018. In February Egypt sold $4 billion in dollar-denominated bonds on three tranches; three, five and 30 years.

Deputy Finance Minister for Capital Market Operations Khaled Abdelrahman told Reuters on Tuesday that Egypt will not need to issue any more Eurobonds until the end of 2018 at least.

Egypt’s foreign reserves reached $42.611 billion at the end of March, a rise of nearly $87 million from $42.524 billion at the end of February, according to the CBE.

Egypt issued $7 billion in Eurobonds' sales in January and May 2017 on the global bond market, both of which were oversubscribed, according to the Ministry of Finance.