Finance Ministry Sells 91-, 273-Day T-Bills Worth EGP 6 Bln

The Egyptian Ministry of Finance sold 91- and 273-day treasury bills worth EGP 6 billion on Sunday. The Ministry raised EGP 3 billion from the 91- day T-bills and EGP 3 billion from the 273-day T-bills.

The yields on 91- day T-bills ranged from 13.208% to 13.371%, while the average return registered 13.317%. The yields on 273-day T-bills ranged from 14% to 14.241%, while the average return registered 14.201%.

The Ministry sold treasury bills and bonds worth EGP 456 billion during July-March of FY 2012/2013 divided as follows: EGP 169 billion in Q1, EGP 138 billion in Q2 and EGP 149 billion in Q3.

The Ministry stated that the average life to maturity of outstanding T-bonds and T-bills increased to 1.4 years at end of December 2012 compared to 1.3 at end of December 2011. Meanwhile, average interest rates on outstanding stock of T-bills and T-bonds increased to 13.46% at end of December 2012 compared to 12.17% at end of December 2011.

As for net domestic budget sector debt, it reached EGP 1131.7 billion (63.7% of GDP) compared to EGP 894.6 billion (58% of GDP) as of end December last year.

The Ministry sells government debt instruments so as to finance the budget deficit which widened to EGP 146.5 billion during the period from July 2012 to February 2013, registering 8.2% of the country’s GDP. The budget deficit is expected to reach EGP 190 billion by the end of the year.