CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt has signed a “Terms and Conditions” agreement with EuroClear, Europe’s largest securities settlement firm, to link government debt instruments in local currency to EuroClear, the finance ministry said on Saturday.
The agreement was signed at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington.
The agreement would make the issuance of Egyptian debt instruments in local currency available to more foreign investors and a step to make Egyptian debt instruments “eventually settling on the Euroclear mechanism”, the bank said in a statement.
In April, Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding with Euroclear to create conditions for the launch of sovereign debt issues in local currency. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told Reuters last month he expected Egypt’s debt instruments to become “settable on the Euroclear mechanism” by early 2020.
“This agreement complements the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with EuroClear Bank last April and contributes to raising the efficiency of public debt management in Egypt, especially in light of the increasing confidence of foreign investors in the Egyptian financial market and the high demand to invest in bonds,” Moait said. “Long-term Egyptian.
“This agreement will allow the market to maintain a large volume of liquidity and lead to lower borrowing costs, thereby reducing the yield on the debt bill and increasing domestic liquidity of assets.”
In September, the finance minister said Egypt planned to issue $ 3 billion to $ 7 billion in international bonds in the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
Stefan Poyat, international director of capital markets at Euroclear, said the agreement would help Egypt achieve its goal of reaching a broader base of international investment institutions and lead to a “more robust capital market.”