Egypt to auction $1.56B in dollar-denominated bills

CAIRO - 13 November 2019: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced issuing $1.56 billion in one-year dollar-denominated treasury bills (T-bills) on Nov. 18.

CBE added Wednesday that the offer will be settled on Nov. 19, and the T-bills will mature on Nov. 17, 2020.

The Ministry of Finance announced earlier that it depends on diversifying the sources of financing between debt instruments and local and foreign markets.

It also noted as local interest rates begin to fall, long-term financing instruments can be expanded from the domestic market, rather than short-term borrowing.This is in addition to expanding the issuance of medium and long-term bonds, instead of bills, to increase the life of debt and reduce the risk of refinancing existing indebtedness.

Egypt succeeded in reducing the government debt to GDP ratio to 90.5 percent by the end of June, compared to 98 in the same month last year.

The Egyptian Government aims to reduce the government debt to GDP ratio to 82.5 percent by the end of June 2020 and to 77.5 percent by the end of June 2022.

For the current fiscal year, the budget deficit is estimated to record LE 445.1 billion, or 7.2 percent, planned by the ministry to be financed through treasury bills and bonds and through international and Arab loans.