Figures obtained by Daily News Egypt revealed that the government plans to borrow EGP 602.25bn from the local market during the third quarter (3Q) of FY2021/22.
According to the Egyptian government’s plan, the Ministry of Finance intends to issue 52 bids for treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 405bn and 48 bids for treasury bonds (T-bonds) worth EGP 197.25bn during the period extending from the first of January until the end of March 2022.
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), which will execute this task on behalf of the government, will issue bids for treasury bills and bonds worth EGP 186bn in January, EGP 186bn in February, and EGP 230.25bn in March.
According to the plan, the ministry focused most of its issuances on the 182-day term bills worth EGP 165.5bn. Its issuances also include the 273-day term T-bills worth EGP 116.5bn, the 364-day term T-bills worth EGP 87.5bn, and 91-day term T-bills worth EGP 35.5bn.
The ministry has also intensified the offering of short-term bonds significantly during the third quarter of FY2021/22 and is scheduled to issue ‘Zero Coupon’ bonds for one and a half years at a value of EGP 155.5bn.
Additionally, the ministry is scheduled to offer two-year T-bonds worth EGP 6bn, 3-year T-bonds worth EGP 17bn, 5-year T-bonds worth EGP 7.5bn, 7-year T-bonds worth EGP 6bn, 10-year T-bonds worth EGP 3.75bn, and 15-year T-bonds worth EGP 1.5bn.
Banks working in the Egyptian market are the largest investors in treasury bonds and bills, which the government periodically offers to cover the state’s general budget deficit.
These bonds and bills are offered through 15 banks that participate in the primary dealer’s system in the primary market, and these banks resell part of them in the secondary market to individual investors and local and foreign institutions.
The CBE has recently revealed that the volume of outstanding balances of treasury bills decreased to EGP 1.470tn at the end of October 2021, compared to the EGP 1.517tn recorded at the end of September 2021.
According to the CBE, the investments of public sector banks in treasury bills amounted to EGP 183.807bn at the end of October — down from the EGP 188.891bn of September.
The investments of private sector banks, on the other hand, amounted to EGP 330.611bn at the end of October, compared to September’s EGP 345.261bn.
Moreover, the investments of specialised banks amounted to EGP 45.216bn at the end of October, compared to EGP 45.685bn at the end of September 2021, while the investments of foreign bank branches amounted to EGP 40.704bn, compared to EGP 39.665bn.
