Egypt’s plan to raise USD 1.5-2 bn from eurobonds this month may be put on hold, with the Finance Ministry cautious of recently unpredictable global markets, a volatile USD, and gold reaching new heights, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM. Current market conditions could delay international issuances until global markets stabilize and the timing becomes more favorable for Egypt to return to international markets, the source added.

Before the US-EU spat over Greenland unnerved financial markets, momentum for the sale and expectations of attractive yields had been strong on the back of improving economic indicators domestically, a decline in sovereign credit default swap (CDS) spreads, and lower perceived default risk, we were told.

Why it matters: No country is an island or immune to prevailing global trends. By adopting this cautious approach, the Finance Ministry is protecting itself from exposure to costly borrowing, opting instead to explore lower-cost alternatives, including bonds backed by international institutions and sovereign sukuk.

But while future international bond issuance activity may take a back seat for the time being, there’s plenty of action from hot money inflows. Investments across both the primary and secondary markets are seeing a massive uptick amid global market disruptions, our source tells us. This follows foreign holdings of Egyptian local debt rising USD 4 bn in 2025 to USD 45 bn as rates on local sovereign debt fell 50-100 bps, indicating that investors are seeing Egypt as a stable high-carry trade amid uncertainty in Western markets.

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