Back to the complete issue
Sunday, 14 October 2018

An Asian bond issuance might be in the cards after all

** #1 An Asian bond issuance looks increasingly in the cards, with Finance Minister Mohamed Maait reporting “very positive” feedback from his meetings with Asian investors in Seoul last week, where the ministry kicked off its nondeal roadshow on the continent to test appetite for the planned USD 5 bn eurobond issuance. Egypt has been “advised to try to issue in Asia,” Maait told Reuters yesterday, adding Egypt could tap debt markets with an offering in a currency other than the USD or EUR and that a decision would be made “in the near future.” The Finance Ministry embarked its pan-Asian roadshow last week amid talk that ‘samurai’ and ‘panda’ bonds were being considered. The roadshow should take officials next to Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Japan. Sources had told us that the government is planning to issue as much as USD 20 bn in foreign-currency denominated bonds between now and 2022 as it looks towards diversifying its sources of funding. The Madbouly government aims to strike a balance between foreign currency and interest rate risks by balancing its local-currency and foreign-currency borrowing.

Also from the pan-Asia roadshow: Maait, who was in Bali for the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, sat down with representatives of ratings agency Fitch, as well as executives from Citigroup, to discuss the Madbouly government’s ongoing economic reform program, Egypt’s fiscal policy, and the impact of the emerging markets selloff on investor appetite for Egyptian debt. The minister made the same solid pitch at an EFG Hermes investors call on Wednesday.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.