CAIRO – 2 March 2021: Foreign investment in Egyptian debt instruments recorded a historical increase, rebounding the outflows witnessed in 2020 due to the Corona virus epidemic, according to Bloomberg. Bloomberg quoted Head of the Debt Management Unit at the Ministry of Finance Mohamed Hegazy, saying that the volume of foreign holdings of treasury bills and bonds in Egypt, located in North Africa, amounted to $ 28.5 billion at the end of February. It attributed this turnout to the rise in real interest rates in Egypt, which ranks second after Vietnam among more than 50 major economies tracked by Bloomberg, in addition to returns of 1.7 percent since the end of December, compared to an average drop of 2.6 percent across emerging markets, according to Bloomberg Barclays Indicators. Hegazy said that the percentage of net bond issuances from local offerings rose to 110 percent by the end of February, surpassing the 80 percent target, which the state wanted to reach by June. "The new debt instruments issued in 2021 may attract more investors and reduce borrowing costs,” he added.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 02, 2021 12:22 UTC