Cairo – Mubasher: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills worth EGP 1.75 billion on Monday, alongside the Ministry of Finance (MoF), to finance the budget deficit, according to a statement.
The first tranche of T-bills will be offered through 3-year notes at EGP 1 billion, while the second offering will be through 7-year notes at EGP 750 million.
The MoF is determined to offer treasury bills and bonds worth EGP 110.75 billion in July 2017, compared to EGP 88.6 billion in July 2016.
The ministry will issue treasury bills and bonds worth EGP 371 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017/2018, which is the highest value since the beginning of the governmental borrowing mechanisms in 2005.
Egyptian debt instruments are attracting a large number of foreign investors, especially treasury bills, as the return on bonds exceeded 20%.
Hinging on the debt instruments has aggravated the cost of debt on the general budget to reach EGP 380 billion in 2018, compared to estimations of EGP 311 billion in 2017.
The government raised its forecast for the budget deficit to 10.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) during 2017, while aiming to reduce it to 9% over the next year.
