Local and international banks and institutions offered to invest $915.4m in the US dollar treasury bills auctioned by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on Monday.
The CBE put forward these bills on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.
The bank auctioned $700m that will mature in one year’s time on 31 June 2017.
The CBE accepted $745.4m of the liquidity. This amount will be used to pay the value of a similar auction put forward on 16 June 2015 with a value of $728.5m.
The interest rate on this auction increased by between 3.59% and 3.63%, averaging 3.629%, compared to the previous interest rate the CBE granted for the auction on 10 May 2016, which ranged between 3.54% and 3.59%, with an average interest rate of 3.58%.
The interest rate on the US dollar is decided by a number of factors, most prominently the volume of the US dollar’s liquidity in the market, the alternative investment opportunities available for the local and foreign financial institutions that invest in these bills, and the country’s credit rating.
