Egypt’s Ministry of Finance plans to offer green bonds before the end of June 2020, Deputy Minister for Fiscal Policies and Institutional Reform Ahmed Kouchouk said on Monday.

The Ministry exerted great efforts in this file and formed ministerial committees, including ministries of environment, electricity and renewable energy, in addition to the Ministry of Finance to study potential projects in the environment sector that will be funded through the green bonds, Kouchouk added.

“We have already obtained the cabinet’s approval to offer $5bn international bonds in the fiscal year (FY) 2019/20, in addition to $500m green bonds,” Kouchouk said.

Green bonds are bonds specifically earmarked to be used for climate and environmental projects. These bonds are typically asset-linked and backed by the issuer’s balance sheet, and are also referred to as climate bonds.

Additionally, Kouchouk said that fuel subsidies will reach EGP 30bn by the end of FY2019/20 in comparison with EGP 52bn targeted before the beginning of the current fiscal year.