The Egyptian government government is considering the issuance of Yuan-dominated bonds for the Chinese market, which is the second largest bond market globally, according to Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait.
Maait made his comments during a meeting held with China’s Ambassador to Cairo Liao Liqiang in the ministry’s headquarters in Cairo.
He explained that the measure will target diversifying financial instruments and resources, attracting new investors, and reducing the costs of development investment financing.
In a bid to diversify its financial resources and debt financing instruments, Egypt adopted a strategy of expansion in bond issuances that target new investment bases.
In March, Egypt issued Yen-dominated bonds that target the Japanese market with a total of $500 million — the first of their kind in Egypt and the Middle East.
Moreover, the country is ramping up for issuing its first Islamic bonds (sukuk) with a total of about $2 billion.
In 2020, Egypt issued its first green bonds — the first of their kind in the MENA region — with a total of $750 million in both the Egyptian market and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
During the meeting, Maait told Liqiang that Egypt’s government is going ahead with creating an attractive atmosphere for all kinds of investments across all development sectors.
He also noted that China is a critical trade partner to Egypt and that the government is keen on expanding current financial cooperation with the Chinese side.
“The government is also eager to enhance mutual investment and economic relations as well as trade exchange across all sectors. This will contribute to establishing an industrial base that aims to produce Chinese electric cars in Egypt, tapping the solidity of the Egyptian economy,” the minister said.
For his part, Liqiang hailed Egypt’s efforts to contain the impacts of the global inflationary wave, and the pressures of the rising prices of food, wheat, and oil.
Trade exchange between the two countries climbed by 37.3 percent in 2021, reaching $19.97 billion, the Chinese National General Authority of Customs said in April
It also said that Chinese exports to Egypt also inched up by 34 percent in 2021 to post $18.27 billion.
