Egypt to issue Asian, green currency bonds for first time in FY2019

Egypt will issue new green and Asian currency-denominated bonds for the first time in addition to dollar and Eurobonds within the financial year 2018/2019, said the Finance Ministry on Monday.

Four international investment banks, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, JP Morgan and HSBC, have been selected by Egypt to issue the dollar-denominated bonds.

Another four international investment banks- BNP Paribas, Natixis, Alex Bank San Paolo and Standard Chartered- will issue the Eurobonds, the statement said.

The National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr assisted in managing the issuance.

In media statements earlier this month, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said that his ministry had received cabinet approval for $3 billion to $7 billion in foreign bond offers.

In December, Maait that said that Egypt was looking for at least two foreign currency bond issuances in the first quarter of 2019.

This is the first time Egypt has released green bonds, which are earmarked for use in environmental projects.

Egypt’s foreign debt stood at $92.64 billion at the end of the previous financial year in June. Its borrowing requirement for the repayment of external debt is $10.51 billion in the current financial year.

Source: Ahram Online