** #3 EXCLUSIVE- The government will be issuing eurobonds in USD, RMB, and JPY in 1Q2019 in a bid to diversify its sources of funding and attract new investors to Egypt’s debt market, a senior government official told us yesterday. The RMB and JPY issuances won’t take the form of ‘panda’ or ‘samurai’ bonds — which require regulatory approval from their respective countries — and will instead by RMB- and JPY-denominated eurobonds, the source said. Talks are currently ongoing with investment banks to determine the value of each issuance, but the government may be looking to raise as much as USD 4-7 bn, our source told us. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait had previously said that the government was hoping to issue USD 5 bn worth of eurobonds next year, which we were told is part of a plan to sell as much as USD 20 bn in FX- denominated debt between now and 2022. The news comes after Maait reported “very positive” sentiment on Egypt after meeting with investors in Seoul earlier this month.

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