CAIRO: Egypt’s Finance Ministry will offer LE 5 billion ($832.78 million) in reopened three- and five-year bonds at an auction on Dec. 5, its second such sale in a week, the central bank said on Tuesday.
The government has been struggling to finance a growing budget deficit as local banks exhaust their liquidity and political chaos scares off foreign investors.
Yields on debt have soared to their highest in years this month. On Monday, the central bank sold LE 4 billion of the same two bonds after having reopened them last week.
An interim government that was hoping to secure a $3 billion International Monetary Fund financing package to ease a widening budget deficit resigned last week.
The reopened three-year bonds, worth LE 2.5 billion, mature on Oct. 18, 2014, and carry a 14 percent coupon.
The five-year bonds, also worth LE 2.5 billion, mature on Oct. 25, 2016, and carry a 14.25 percent coupon.
The central bank is acting on behalf of the Finance Ministry. Settlement is on Dec. 6, 2011.
