Egypt sold three-year treasury bonds worth 31 billion Egyptian pounds ($3.49 billion) with a fixed annual yield of 16 percent, the stock exchange said in a statement on Wednesday.

The bonds were sold on 23 Aug. and distributed over 31 million bonds worth EGP 1,000 each, the statement said. They were sold in an exceptional auction that was exclusive to state-owned banks, three bankers told Reuters.

"The National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr both bought bonds in yesterday's exceptional auction," one banker said.

The 16 percent rate is to be paid twice a year in February and August, the statement said, and the issue has been added to the Cairo stock exchange and is available for trading as of Wednesday's trading session.

Import-dependant Egypt has been struggling to revive its battered economy ever since a 2011 uprising ended the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak but drove away tourists and foreign investors, two major sources of hard currency.

The central bank devalued the pound to 8.78 in March then hiked key rates by 150 basis points just days later to control inflation. It raised interest rates by another 100 basis points, to its highest level in years on 16 June.

The Monetary Policy Committee is due to meet again on 22 September to decide on its key rates.

($1 = 8.88 Egyptian pounds)