Egypt's central bank said it cut back on the amount of 273-day treasury bills sold at an auction on Sunday as their yields increased. The average yield rose to 15.645 per cent from 15.309 per cent at the last issue on 3 January, and the bank sold bills worth LE3 billion ($496.85 million) instead of the LE4 billion it had originally offered. The central bank sells the bills on behalf of the Finance Ministry.