Cairo – Mubasher: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 18.75 billion on Sunday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

The first tranche of T-bills amounts to EGP 9 billion and will be offered through 91-day notes, while the second tranche will be offered through 266-day notes valued at EGP 9.75 billion, the CBE said via its official website.  

The issuance will be used to finance the country’s budget deficit, the CBE added.

On Thursday, the CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to slash the current overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the main operation by 150 basis points to 14.25%, 15.25%, and 14.75%, respectively.

Foreign holdings of Egyptian debt instruments hit $20.1 billion at the end of July, board member of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Fakhry Elfiky said.

During the seven-month period ended 31 July, foreign holdings of the country’s debt instruments amounted to $7 billion, El Fekki previously told Mubasher.

The North African nation’s public debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio dropped to 90.5% at the end of June from 98% a year earlier. 

The Egyptian government seeks to further reduce debt to GDP ratio to 82.5% at the end of June 2020 and 77.5% by the end of June 2022.