Egypt’s outstanding balance of local treasury bills (T-bill) and bonds amounted to about EGP 4.348trn in October 2022, according to the Ministry of Finance.
According to the latest report published by the ministry on its website, the volume of outstanding balances of treasury bills until the end of October amounted to EGP 1.767trn, with EGP 785.137bn for 364-day bills, EGP 183.303bn for 273-day bills, and EGP 274.673bn for 182-day bills, in addition to EGP 524.203bn in bonds for 91 days.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the maturity date for these bills extends from 1 November 2022 to 24 October 2023, taking into account that other bills with the same deadlines are re-issued on a weekly basis.
Moreover, the Ministry of Finance revealed that the volume of outstanding balances of treasury bonds at the end of September amounted to about EGP 2.580trn, of which about EGP 275.532bn were “zero coupon” bonds.
According to the Ministry, the maturity date for these bonds extends from 26 November 2022 to 18 January 2037, taking into account that other bonds were issued on a weekly basis, similarly to bills.
The Ministry of Finance revealed earlier that the government plans to borrow EGP 878.5bn from the local market in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022/23 (October-December), with the aim of financing the state budget deficit.
Banks operating in the Egyptian market are the largest sectors investing in bonds and treasury bills that the government offers periodically to cover the state budget deficit.
These bonds and bills are offered through 15 banks that participate in the system of “primary dealers” in the “primary market”, and those banks resell part of them in the “secondary market”, to individual and local and foreign institutional investors.
Additionally, the Ministry of Finance revealed the size of the outstanding balances of Egypt’s foreign bonds in September 2022.
According to the ministry, there are bonds denominated in US dollars that amount to $34.21bn, which were offered from 11 June 2015 to 30 September 2021, and are due during the period from 21 February 2023 to 16 February 2061.
The interest rate on these bonds ranges between 3.875% and 8.875%, with an average of 7.126%.
The Ministry indicated that there are other bonds worth €4bn, which were offered from April 16, 2018 to April 11, 2019, and are due during the period from April 11, 2025 to April 11, 2031.
The return rate on these bonds ranges between 4.75% and 6.375%, with an average of 5.477%.
In addition to that, there are other bonds denominated in Japanese yen, amounting to about 60 billion yen, equivalent to EGP 500m. They were offered on 31 March 2022, due on 31 March 2027, and the return rate is 0.85%.
