Cairo - Mubasher: Egypt will issue international bonds worth between $1.5 billion and $2 billion within the upcoming week, the Egyptian minister of finance Amr El-Garhy told Reuters on Monday.

Last month, the Egyptian council of ministers approved raising the international bonds ceiling to $7 billion up from $5 billion.

In January, Egypt had issued $4 billion in international bonds.

The Egyptian government is implementing an economic reform programme in coordination with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to control the staggering budget deficit to restructure the Egyptian economy, and reform subsidies and the exchange rate systems.

The board of the IMF had approved a three-year, $12 billion loan to Egypt, of which the country has obtained the first tranche of $2.75 billion, and is now anticipating a $1.25 billion second tranche.