Egypt is planning on issuing USD 2 bn in sukuk in 2025 through multiple offerings, with the government already having appointed banks for the issuance, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk told Reuters yesterday. The government is also open to debt-for-investment swap agreements akin to last year’s Ras El Hekma agreement as a means of securing FX, Kouchouk told the newswire.

The announcement came despite the continued fall in the value of the EGP, which saw Egypt’s currency dip to a record low. More on that in the news well, above.

The banks involved in the issuance are the same ones that managed our maiden sukuk issuance in February 2023 — HSBC and Citibank, along with Dubai Islamic Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank — a senior government source told EnterprimeAM, confirming what Asharq Business reported earlier yesterday. In addition, the publication wrote that the issuance would have a value of up to USD 1.5 bn, which our source confirmed as well.

The details: The banks will focus on promoting the new issuance through meetings arranged with investors in the Gulf and East Asian countries, our source said. The timing will be determined by the offering advisors, but it will take place during the current quarter, with procedures and roadshows expected to take around two months, the source added.

The issuance is expected to come in small tranches with varying maturities — possibly up to three tranches — in an effort to reduce the expected yield and increase the offering’s appeal, our source continued.

“Issuing the sukuk comes as part of the government’s push towards diversifying its debt instruments, and I think the next few months will show the level of stability in the local market and the attractiveness of this issuance,” economist Mona Bedair told EnterpriseAM.

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