Egypt is looking forward to obtaining new external financing ranging between $1.5 and $2 billion, including $1 billion through the offering of Samurai and Panda bonds before the end of the year, according to Egypt’s Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait.

Maait pointed out that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will provide a financial guarantee of about $230 million to support the issuance of Panda bonds to be offered. The Egyptian Cabinet approved the issuance of Samurai bonds denominated in Japanese yen worth $500 million, for a period of 5 years.

The finance minister also stated that Egypt spent $52 billion on financial obligations during the two fiscal years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023, he made these remarks during a symposium held at the premises of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation.

Egypt spent $25.5 billion to fulfill its financial obligations such as: debt payments, in the first half of 2023 until June 30.

In a recent release, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) revealed that Egypt’s trade balance deficit fell by 47.7% during June 2023 year-on-year to record $2.32 billion, compared to $4.43 billion in the same month of 2022.