DUBAI, May 21 (Reuters) — Egypt sold five billion US dollars in bonds in three tranches on Thursday with maturities of four, 12 and 30 years, a document showed, as the country grapples with the economic fall-out of the novel coronavirus.
Egypt has been particularly hard hit by the impact of the pandemic on tourism, which is a major revenue earner.
Egypt sold $1.25 billion in four-year notes at 5.75 percent, $1.75 billion in 12-year bonds at 7.625 percent and two billion in 30-year notes at 8.875 percent, a document from one of the banks leading the deal showed.
Egypt hired BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered to arrange the debt sale.
Those levels were 50 basis points lower than those at which it began marketing the bonds earlier on Thursday. The deal attracted more than six billion dollars in demand for each of the four and 12-year tranches and more than $7.6 billion for the 30-year bonds, the document showed.
Deputy central bank governor Rami Aboul Naga said the sale had attracted strong demand in a short period of time, adding there had been keen interest from investment funds and international institutions, state news agency MENA said.
Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund said it had approved $2.77 billion in emergency financing for Egypt to help it weather the pandemic.
The government has taken steps to contain the outbreak, including a night curfew and the closure of cafes and mosques, but has stopped short of a full lockdown as it seeks to keep the economy going.
As of Wednesday, Egypt had reported 14,229 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 680 deaths.
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By Yousef Saba and Davide Barbuscia
Reporting by Yousef Saba and Davide Barbuscia; Additional reporting by Ulf Laessing and Hesham Abdul Khalek Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise/Pravin Char/Kirsten Donovan/Barbara Lewis
