Egypt says 2 bln eurobond offer completes debt auction for current fiscal year

Egypt said on Friday it would not return to the international debt market during the current financial year ending in June, after raising 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion) in six and 12-year euro-denominated bonds.

The finance ministry said it had received nearly 9 billion euros ($10.10 billion)-worth of requests for the bonds. It had offered 750 million euros in six-year papers and 1.25 billion euro in 12-year notes, to be settled on April 11.

A document issued by one of the banks leading the deal indicated that the bonds were priced on Thursday. Banca IMI, BNP Paribas, Natixis and Standard Chartered Bank are bookrunners for the offer.

Egypt has struggled to recover from a period of economic and political turmoil after a 2011 uprising. It has borrowed heavily from abroad since signing a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan deal in 2016.

Officials say they are trying to diversify the country’s sources of foreign debt and lengthen its average maturity and had previously raised the possibility of issuing bonds denominated in an Asian currency.

In February, Egypt issued $4 billion in dollar-denominated bonds with maturities of five, 10 and 30 years.