Outstanding balances of local treasury bonds, bills reach EGP 1.7tn by end of 2017

Treasury bills stabilised at EGP 1.023tn, bonds reached EGP 676.6bn until December: Finance Ministry

The outstanding balances of treasury bonds and bills in local currency owed by the government amounted to EGP 1.6998tn by the end of 2017, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The largest investors of treasury bonds and bills are banks operating in the Egyptian market. The government offers treasury bonds and bills on a regular basis to cover state budget deficit.
Bonds and bills are issued through 15 banks participating in the primary dealers system in the primary market, according to an agreement between the government and banks since 2014. Also, these banks sell a portion of these bonds and bills in the secondary market to individual investors as well as domestic and foreign institutions.
The ministry said in a report issued recently that the total size of outstanding treasury bills amounted to EGP 1.023tn until the end of December 2017, of which EGP 105.507bn mature in 91 days, EGP 210.629bn in 182 days, EGP 307.102bn in 273 days, and EGP 399.89bn in 364 days.
According to the ministry, these bills are due between 2 January to 25 December 2018.
Regarding local treasury bonds, finance ministry said that they reached about EGP 676.683bn at the end of December 2017.
It added that the coupon-yield bonds reached EGP 674.478bn at an average rate of return of 14.191%.
The bonds were issued from 12 February 2008 until 12 December 2017 and will be due from 4 February 2018 to 7 November 2027.
According to the ministry, the second type, zero-coupon bonds, recorded a balance of about EGP 2.203bn at the end of December 2017, with interest rates ranging between 10.885% and 16.514%, and averaging 12.679%.
The bonds were issued between 6 September and 4 October 2016, maturing between 6 March and 3 April 2018.
Aside from these bonds in local currency, there are more bonds on international markets worth $14bn. These bonds have maturity periods of 1-30 years, due to be repaid between 10 December 2017 and 31 January 2047, with an average interest rate of 6.514%.
The bonds were offered in the period from 29 April 2010 and 31 May 2017, with a return of 5.45-8.5%.
Last week, Daily News Egypt published the government's plan to issue treasury bills and bonds worth EGP 415bn between January and March 2018—making this the largest borrowing plan by the government through debt instruments in Egyptian history.
The state suffers from a deficit in the general budget estimated at about EGP 370bn in FY 2017/2018, according to a previous statement by Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy.
A plan by the Ministry of Finance obtained by Daily News Egypt reveals that the government is targeting issuing treasury bills worth EGP 384bn and treasury bonds worth EGP 31bn.
The government had borrowed about EGP 1.336tn through treasury bills and bonds in 2017.