Egypt raised USD 4 bn across three tranches from its recent eurobond sale, Finance Minister Amr El Garhy told Bloomberg TV. The issue was comprised of USD 1.75 bn of five-year bonds yielding 6.125%, USD 1 bn of 10-year bonds carrying a yield of 7.50%, and USD 1.25 bn of 30-year bonds yielding 8.50%. Demand was “very strong and covered multiple times,” he added, setting Egypt up to be a frequent issuer in 2017. Egypt began marketing a triple-tranche USD-denominated eurobond last Tuesday. The bonds will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. "The issuance is successful because it offers relatively attractive yields compared to global returns on the [USD] at a time when the macro risks related to the Egyptian economy are diminishing and the turnaround story is about to commence," CI Capital economist Hany Farahat told Reuters.

Egypt is fully committed to postponing the capital gains tax for another three years, he added, and is still studying introducing a stamp duty, which is unlikely to deter investors. Speaking on the possibility of a currency swap agreement with Russia, El Garhy stated that Egypt could consider more currency swaps if needed.