Egypt to reportedly return to international bond market sometime this FY

Cairo – September 22, 2024: Egypt is aiming to re-enter the international bond market, with plans to issue $3 billion in Eurobonds and other debt instruments during this fiscal year, according to Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk's remarks during his recent visit to London, as reported by Bloomberg.

While Kouchouk's meetings were not open to the press, sources told Bloomberg that he informed foreign investors about the plan to sell approximately $3 billion in external debt across various tranches, although details on the specific instruments to be used were not revealed.

Other possible debt issuance instruments could be Islamic bonds (Sukuk), as well as bonds supported by guarantees from international financial institutions like the IMF and the BRICS New Development Bank to reduce interest rates.

Egypt’s last Eurobond issuance was back in 2021 when it joined “a rush of emerging-market governments taking advantage of low borrowing costs before the U.S. Federal Reserve started tapering its pandemic stimulus,” explained Bloomberg. At the time, the Ministry of Finance sold $6.5 billion in bonds in 2 tranches.

Egypt’s dollar-denominated notes due in 2047 were trading above 80 cents on the dollar as of Friday, the highest level since 2022, according to data compiled by the international news outlet.

This is not the first time that Kouchouk has mentioned diversifying debt instruments to reduce debt costs, with the minister telling media in August that the finance ministry was looking into expanding its debt instruments including treasury bonds, green bonds, and Sukuk.