The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is set to launch six tenders for treasury bills and bonds, cumulatively valued at EGP 119.5bn. This process, conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. It is part of a broader strategy by the Ministry to secure approximately EGP 1.491trn from the domestic market in the final quarter of the fiscal year 2023/2024. The funds are earmarked for settling past debts and addressing the national budget shortfall.
Tenders for bills and bonds are typically announced by the CBE on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays each week. However, the observance of Eid al-Fitr has led to the rescheduling of all tenders to the start of this week.
Under the Ministry of Finance’s extensive plan, there will be 52 tenders for bills totalling EGP 1.380trn and 32 tenders for bonds amounting to EGP 111.5bn, spanning from April 1st to the end of June 2024. Egyptian banks, the primary investors in government-issued treasury bonds and bills, play a pivotal role in managing the state’s budget deficit. These securities are initially distributed through 15 banks that are part of the Primary Dealers System and are subsequently resold to both local and international individual and institutional investors in the secondary market.
For April, the CBE will introduce tenders for treasury bills and bonds worth EGP 616.5bn, followed by EGP 457bn in May, and EGP 418bn in June. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance disclosed that the total outstanding balance of local treasury bills and bonds stood at EGP 4.966trn at the end of January 2024.
The Ministry’s most recent report indicates that the outstanding balance of treasury bills is approximately EGP 2.734trn, while that of treasury bonds is close to EGP 2.232trn.
