The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) received 28 offers worth €922.8m to cover an issuance of local treasury bills denominated in the European currency.

CBE launched a tender worth €600m on Monday, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, for one year, and its proceeds will be used to pay a previous €656.7m issuance, which was launched on 7 November 2022.

According to CBE, 19 offers were accepted out of those offers worth €642.8m, at an interest rate of 3.5%, compared to an interest rate ranging between 3.74% and 3.75% in a similar tender launched by the bank on 12 August. Some institutions requested a return of up to 4.20%, and that rejected by CBE.

CBE started offering treasury bills in euros on 28 August 2012. The first return granted by the Ministry of Finance on those bills was 3.25%.

It allows subscription to euro bills for both local banks and foreign institutions with a minimum subscription of €100,000 and multiples thereof.

Banks subscribe to euro bills similarly to local currency bills offerings. Banks submit their bid to CBE, specifying the amount it will subscribe to in the bills and the interest rate it requests. Bids are then collected at CBE to study them and accept the proper ones.

Banks operating in the local market rely heavily on these bills to invest their liquidity in euros in a vessel guaranteed by the government, with an appropriate return, in light of the lack of other investment opportunities for this liquidity, except for rare syndicated loans offered at different intervals, or investment in global financial markets.

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