FinMin calls off bond sale, says offer prices were too expensive

FinMin calls off bond sale, says offer prices were too expensive: The Finance Ministry decided yesterday to cancel two local bond offerings worth a combined EGP 3.5 bnwith three- and eight-year maturities after investors and banks asked for returns as high as 18.5%, Reuters’ Arabic service reports. “The prices offered were not adequate,” the Finance Ministry’s Khaled Abdel Rahman told the newswire. He notes that the government is hoping to see average yields on government borrowing instruments drop to an average 14% in FY2018-19 from highs of 18.5% in the fiscal year just ended. The move comes as the Finance Ministry looks to phase out short and medium term borrowing in favor of less costly, long-term borrowing.