Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt plans to issue green bonds before the end of fiscal year 2019/2020, the deputy finance minister, Ahmed Kouchouk, said in a statement on Tuesday.   

The Egyptian government aims to diversify its financing sources, Kouchouk added, noting that the country has become the second in the MENA region to issue 40-year bonds worth $2 billion, which reflects the investors’ confidence in the Egyptian economy. 

In terms of the primary balance, Egypt came in the second place among emerging markets after turning from a deficit to a surplus of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP).

The North African nation also topped emerging markets in terms of debt reduction, after slashing public debt to GDP ratio by 18% in two years to 90% at the end of June 2019, with plans to reach 83% by the end of June 2020, Kouchouk pointed out.