The Ministry of Finance plans to launch 25 auctions for treasury bills (T-bills) and bonds worth EGP 540.25bn in February. This consists of 16 auctions for bills totalling EGP 528bn and 9 auctions for bonds worth EGP 12.25bn. These funds are part of the government’s strategy to borrow EGP 1.647trn from the domestic market in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023/2024. They will be used to pay off previous debts and finance the state budget deficit.
The Central Bank, acting on behalf of the government, will hold four auctions each for 91-day and 182-day bills, amounting to EGP 140bn, as well as four auctions for 273-day bills, amounting to EGP 108bn. Moreover, there will be four auctions for 364-day bills, worth EGP 140bn.
Additionally, two auctions for “zero-coupon” bonds with a maturity of 728 days worth EGP 3bn will be held, along with four auctions for 3-year bonds worth EGP 7bn. There will also be two auctions for “variable yield” bonds with a 5-year maturity worth EGP 1.25bn, and one auction for “fixed yield” bonds with the same maturity, worth EGP 250m.
The Egyptian banks, which are the main investors in treasury bills and bonds issued by the government to cover the state budget deficit, participate actively in the primary market through the 15 banks designated as “Primary Dealers.” These banks then sell some of the securities they buy in the secondary market to individual and institutional investors, both local and foreign. The Ministry of Finance announced earlier that the outstanding balance of local treasury bills and bonds reached about EGP 4.97trn by the end of November 2023.
According to the latest report published on the ministry’s website, the outstanding balance of treasury bills was about EGP 2.76trn. This included about EGP 1.205trn for 364-day bills, about EGP 224.429bn for 273-day bills, and about EGP 474.564bn for 182-day bills. There were also about EGP 855.61bn in 91-day bills.
At the same time, the Ministry of Finance revealed that the outstanding balance of treasury bonds was about EGP 2.209trn by the end of November. This included about EGP 83.695bn for “zero-coupon” bonds and about EGP 27.202bn for variable-yield bonds.
