Egypt issues $4 bln in foreign currency bonds – ministry

Egypt has issued $4 billion in dollar denominated bonds with maturities of five, 10 and 30 years in a sale that was five times oversubscribed, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

The issue included $750 million in five-year bonds with a return of 6.2 percent, $1.75 billion in 10-year bonds with a return of 7.6 percent and 1.5 billion in 30-year bonds, with a return of 8.7 percent, the ministry said.

The issue attracted $21.5 billion in bids, the ministry said. The money raised will be used to finance the state budget, said Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk.

Most bids were for longer maturity 10- and 30-year bonds, Kouchouk told Reuters, adding that he considered the yield on the bonds “very good” for Egypt, in line or lower than prevailing yields.

Egypt struggled through years of political and economic turmoil after its 2011 uprising. It has borrowed heavily from abroad since it began an economic reform programme backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in late 2016.