Finance Min. Issues $ 4B Worth of Bonds

By: Taarek Refaat

CAIRO, Feb. 20(SEE)- The Egyptian Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday that it had issued international bonds worth $ 4 billion in three maturity dates to finance Off-budget activities.

Cabinet's spokesman Nader Saad revealed that 75 percent of the issued bonds were purchased instantly, marking a record high sell-off.

By midday, up to $ 21.5 billion, nearly 5 times the required offering was totally purchased.

"Investors purchasing power reflected the volume of interest and confidence in the bonds issued by the Egyptian government," Saad added.

The international bonds were offered in three different maturity periods. $ 750 million for 5 years with 6.2 percent return, $ 1.750 billion for 10 years with a return of 7.6percent, and $ 1,500 billion for 30 years at 8.7 percent.

Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Mait said that Egypt intends to enter the international bond market before the end of June 2019.