Egypt mulls EUR 1.5 bn eurobond issuance in November

Egypt mulls EUR 1.5 bn eurobond issuance in November: Egypt is considering raising USD 1.5 bn in a new eurobond issuance “before the end of November,” Finance Minister Amr El Garhy told Bloomberg on Thursday. Some USD 3-4 bn in eurobonds will be up for sale in 1Q2018, El Garhy told Al Borsa in a separate interview. The move will be part of a larger USD 10 bn foreign currency-denominated bond program the government is also considering, the minister said, stopping short of giving a detailed timeline for the program. The country is leaning towards more bond issuances of this sort as a result of the interest foreign investors have had in emerging markets bonds and Egypt in general, he added. El Garhy expects foreign holdings of Egypt’s bonds since the EGP float to increase to USD 20 bn, up from a current USD 16.5 bn.