Egypt Will not Convert Gulf Funds into Bonds – Officials

Egypt is not planning to convert part of the financial aid pledged by Gulf nations into bonds, the country’s outgoing finance minister and the deputy minister of planning told El Watan gazette on Sunday.

Egyptian outgoing Finance Minister Dr. Fayyad Abdel Moneim and Deputy Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ambassador Marawan Badr refuted the news that  Egypt could convert part of the US$ 12 billion of loans and grants pledged by Gulf nations (Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait) into tradable bond securities.
Converting a portion of the funds into bonds would allow the The lenders in question – Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait – will then have the flexibility to sell the bonds to other investors, should they wish to, Abdel Moneim added.

Qatar already has that option: Egypt recently converted US$ 3.5 billion of Qatari loans into bonds through a newly established US$ 12 billion Euro Medium-Term Note program. The loans made by the other three Gulf nations might be given similar treatment.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE had pledged a total of $12 billion for Egypt, of which $7 billion would be deposited at the central bank.