Egypt plans $7b bond sale in first quarter

Egypt plans to issue between $3 billion (Dh11 billion) and $7 billion (Dh25 billion) worth of international bonds in the first quarter of the year, Finance Minister Mohammad Maait said yesterday.

The Cabinet has given “us the flexibility to issue what we need within this range” and also flexibility regarding the currencies, Maait said in an interview on the sidelines of an investor conference in Cairo. Maait said Egypt plans to sell the bonds in a range of currencies including the US dollar, euro, Japan’s yen and China’s yuan.

Egypt plans to issue $2 billion (Dh3.74 billion) worth of Japanese yen denominated bonds in the coming week, sources said.

Proceeds from the issue of so-called Samurai bonds will be used to repay debts of state oil company Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC).