File Photo: An Egypt Post office. Al-Ahram
The bond will offer a monthly return over 18 months for regular investors interested in government securities, though specific yields have not yet been disclosed.
The launch is part of the government’s effort to diversify financing tools, lower borrowing costs, expand the investor base, extend debt maturities, manage debt more efficiently, and reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio.
It also aims to broaden citizens’ access to safe investment opportunities amid persistent high inflation and global economic uncertainties.
The step comes as Egypt’s core inflation rate fell to 11.2 percent in January 2026, down from 11.8 percent in December 2025. Monthly, the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 268.1 points in January, a 1.5 percent increase from December, driven by a 2.7 percent rise in food and beverage prices.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has begun easing its monetary policy, lowering yields on certificates of deposit, one of the main safe-haven investments for Egyptians during periods of high inflation.
In its first meeting of 2025, the CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut key policy rates by one percentage point, reducing the overnight deposit rate to 19 percent, the overnight lending rate to 20 percent, and the main operation rate to 19.5 percent.
Egypt also plans to issue $2 billion in international bonds by the end of the 2025/2026 fiscal year (ending 30 June 2026) and reduce the external debt of budget entities by $1–2 billion annually, aiming to lower overall debt.
The government seeks to bring the debt-to-GDP ratio below 75 percent within three years and down to 40 percent or less by the end of FY2025/2026, as macroeconomic indicators improve ahead of the scheduled International Monetary Fund (IMF) reviews on 25 February.
The IMF Executive Board will consider the fifth and sixth reviews of Egypt’s economic reform programme under the $8 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), along with the first review under the $1.3 billion Resilience and Sustainability Arrangement (RSA).
Approval would release a $2.3 billion tranche under the EFF and $300 million under the RSA.
Debt service costs consumed more than 96 percent of Egypt’s total budget revenues during the first five months of FY2025/2026 (July–November), with interest payments rising 45.2 percent year on year to approximately EGP 1 trillion, reflecting the ongoing impact of high borrowing costs.
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