EGYPT: Egypt’s cabinet approved the issuing of US$500m in five-year Samurai bonds, according to a government statement released on Wednesday.
The cabinet did not specify when the issuance would take place. (Bloomberg). The approved issuance would be the country’s second after already issuing JPY60 billion (US$500 million) in Samurai bonds in 2022. In an official statement, the cabinet highlighted Egypt’s previous success with the issuance and pointed out that it is aligned with the ministry’s efforts to diversify and expand into international markets. The government has been working to diversify funding sources through the sale of state-owned assets and through issuing bonds in a number of currencies.
Given that there is still pent-up FX demand in the economy and the government has amortisations in external debt of about US$20.0 billion over the next two years, further financial support is required. Earlier in the year, authorities said that Egypt aims to unlock further flows through the privatisation of state-owned assets (US$4.6 billion in FY23/24) and was considering Panda and Samurai bond issuances. In May this year, the African Development Bank announced that its board of directors approved a US$345 million equivalent partial credit guarantee in renminbi to Egypt to increase its access to the Panda bond market for financing green and social projects.
