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Sunday, 16 July 2017

Foreign investments in Egypt’s debt remains strong

Meanwhile, foreign interest in Egyptian debt remains strong. Foreign holdings of Egyptian debt topped EGP 204 bn (USD 11.4 bn) as of 11 July, the last treasury sale before Thursday’s, the head of public debt at the Finance Ministry Sami Khallaf told Reuters on Thursday. Foreigners bought EGP 7.9 bn (USD 440.1 mn) during last Thursday’s auction making up 51% of buyers at that auction, Khallaf added. The average yield on the six-month bill rose to 22.28% from 21.15% at the last sale on July 6, while the yield on the one-year t-bill rose to 21.99% from 20.98%, according to data from the CBE. EGP 13 bn in treasuries will be sold at an auction today. We had noted last month that foreign direct investment (FDI) had risen 12% year-on-year in FY2016-17 to USD 6.6 bn in 9M2016-17.

On that front, Egypt was ranked second most popular destination for FDI in the Arab world in 2016, with inflows up 17% year-on-year to USD 8.1 bn, the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation says in its 150-page Investment Climate report (pdf). The Chinese have been Egypt’s top investors over the last five years, commissioning around 20 projects with a total investment value of USD 22.6 bn, the report says, citing UNCTAD figures. Top FDI earners include energy, real estate, coal, chemicals, and food industries.

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