The outstanding balances of treasury bills (T-Bills) and treasury bonds (T-Bonds) owed by the government until the end of August 2019 amounted to EGP 2.028tn, compared to EGP 1.97tn at the end of July 2019, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The ministry said in a recent report that the total outstanding balances of T-Bills reached EGP 1.213tn at the end of August, compared to EGP 1.2039tn at the end of July. The August T-Bills include EGP 96.965bn worth bills with maturity of 91 days, EGP 211.242bn bills for 182 days, and EGP 336.619bn bills for 273 days, and EGP 568.367bn bills for 363 days.
According to the Finance Ministry, most of these bills are due from 25 August 2019 to October 2020.
As for the balances of the local T-Bonds, the ministry indicated that it reached about EGP 814.973bn at the end of August, compared to EGP 766.36bn at the end of July.
The bonds were issued between 18 January 2005 and 6 August 2019, and they are repayable between 6 September 2019 and 7 May 2029.
Interest rates on these bonds range from 11.4% to 18.75%, averaging 15.029%.
Banks working in the Egyptian market are considered the largest investors in T-Bonds and T-Bills, which the government issues on a regular basis to bridge the state’s budget deficit.
T-Bonds and T-Bills are proposed through 15 banks, which are the principal dealers in the primary market. These banks resell a portion of these bills and bonds in the secondary market to retail investors, as well as to local and foreign institutions.
In the same context, the ministry revealed an increase of outstanding international bonds to $23.21bn and €4bn.
The maturity of dollar bonds ranges from 5 and 30 years, while the maturity of euro-denominated bonds are between 8 and 12 years.
The Ministry of Finance began on 1 July to implement a plan to float EGP 522bn worth T-Bills and T-Bills during the last three months ending September 2019, the largest rate of government borrowing through debt instruments since the launch of these instruments on the market at all.
The state budget deficit is expected to reach EGP 445.1bn at the end of the fiscal year 2019/20. The ministry’s plan reveals the government’s target of issuing T-Bills of EGP 490.75bn and T-Bonds of EGP 31.25bn.
