Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's $4bn Eurobond issuance has been oversubscribed three times, finance minister Amr El-Garhy said in a statement.

Purchasing orders have exceeded $12 billion during the first hours of the issuance, El-Garhy highlighted.

The proceeds of the international bond issue will be allocated to bolster the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) foreign reserves, in line with using cash return in the Egyptian pound to finance the general budget, according to the statement.

For his part, deputy finance minister Ahmed Kojak said that Egypt has issued Eurobonds worth $4 billion over three tranches with different maturities.

The value of the first tranche amounted to $1.25 billion with a five-year maturity and an annual yield of 5.58%, Kojak noted.

The top official added that the second tranche valued at $1.25 billion, maturing within 10 years with an annual yield of 6.59%, while the $1.5 billion third tranche has a 30-year maturity period with an annual yield of 7.91%.

He also indicated that an investor has requested to buy bonds worth more than $500 million.

Egypt is the first emerging market to issue international bonds since the last selling wave that the global markets have seen, while other emerging market nations, such as Indonesia, have postponed issuing Eurobonds.