Cairo – Mubasher: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will offer treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 18 billion on Sunday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.

The first tranche of the T-bills is offered through 91-day notes worth EGP 8 billion, while the second tranche is valued at EGP 10 billion and will be offered through 273-day notes, the CBE said on its official website.

The issuance will be used to finance the country’s budget deficit. State-run banks are the top purchasers of the government debt instruments.

On Thursday, the CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to reduce the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the main operation by 0.5% to 8.75%, 9.75%, and 9.25%, respectively.

In May, Egypt obtained a $2.7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the rapid financing instrument (RFI).

In June, the Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, issued a decision to establish a unit at the Egyptian Tax Authority to follow up on the collection and supply of taxes on returns of T-bills and bonds.