CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank said it sold LE 3 billion ($508 million) in domestic treasury bills on Sunday, well short of the LE 4.5 billion it had offered.
Bankers say demand for Egyptian treasury bills has declined because of the political turmoil that ousted Hosni Mubarak last month, partly on concern the value of the pound will depreciate in coming months.
The bank had offered LE 3.5 billion of 266-day T-bills, but reduced the amount to LE 2 billion. The average yield was 12.473 percent.
Central Bank Deputy Governor Hisham Ramez said the bank had received LE 4.2 billion in bids for the 266-day bills, but the yields on some of the bids were higher than what the Finance Ministry was willing to pay.
"These were the amounts the Finance Ministry was willing to buy," Ramez said by telephone.
The central bank also sold LE 1 billion of 91-day T-bills, the same amount it had asked for, at an average yield of 11.487 percent, up from 11.097 percent at last week’s auction.
Total bids on the 91-day bills were LE 2 billion, Ramez said.
