Egypt mulls issuing bonds in UAE dirhams, Indian rupees, Hong Kong dollars for the first time

Finance Minister Mohamed Maait announced that Egypt is considering issuing bonds in various markets including the Gulf for the first time.

In statements to the United Arab Emirates News Agency (WAM) on Monday, Maait said that “issuing bonds in the Gulf markets requires a great deal of effort and arrangements with local and international consultants and the Gulf Financial Markets Committee.”

Egypt is also mulling issuing bonds in Indian rupees and Hong Kong dollars, he said, “as part of the ministry’s plans to diversify sources and tools of financing, currencies, and issue markets and expand the base and segments of international investors,” including Japan, China, green bonds, and sovereign sukuks.

The Ministry of Finance announced in a statement on Thursday that Egypt became the first country in the Middle East to issue international bonds denominated in Japanese yen in the Japanese market.

In March 2022, Egypt issued samurai bonds in the Japanese market at 60 billion Japanese yen – equivalent to US$500,000 billion.

In an earlier statement, Maait explained that the bonds issuance comes within the Ministry of Finance’s successful plan to expand debt instruments, diversify issue currencies, issue markets, and investor segments, in addition to extend the life of the debt and reduce the costs of external debt and financing.

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