The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) received 28 bids from local and foreign investors worth $1.196bn for the auction of local treasury bills (T-bills) denominated in US dollars, which was held today, Monday, for $1bn, with a maturity date of 4 February 2025.
The CBE’s website data showed that the bank accepted 18 of these bids, worth $1.061bn, with interest rates between 5.148% and 5.149%. It rejected some bids that asked for a yield of up to 6.25%.
The CBE will use the auction proceeds to pay back the maturity of a previous auction that was held on 7 February 2023, through which the CBE raised $1.066bn.
The CBE allows both local banks and foreign institutions to subscribe to these T-bills, with a minimum subscription of $100,000 and its multiples.
The subscription process for these dollar-denominated T-bills is the same as for local currency bond offerings. Each “Primary Dealers” bank sends a subscription request to the CBE, specifying the amount and the interest rate for the bonds. The CBE then reviews the requests and accepts the suitable ones.
The yield on these dollar-denominated T-bills depends on several factors, such as the dollar interest rates in global markets, alternative investment opportunities for local and foreign banks and financial institutions, and the country’s credit rating.
