Egypt’s debut sukuk sale 4x oversubscribed at $6.1bln

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Egypt has succeeded in issuing its debut sukuk as it was oversubscribed by more than 4x at a value of around $6.1 billion, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait revealed in a statement on February 22nd.

The country’s first sukuk sale has witnessed a notably heavy appetite from investors, with the participation of over 250 investors from global markets, Maait remarked.

The Islamic bond issuance has attracted several investors from the Gulf states and East Asia, as well as a number of European countries and the US, he pointed out.

For his part, Mohamed Hegazy, Head of the Debt Management Unit at the Finance Ministry, said that the ministry has been successful in launching an international program for sovereign sukuk issuance at a value of $5 billion for years ahead.

The program was listed on the London Stock Exchange on February 14th.

Egypt has launched its three-year USD-denominated debut sukuk issuance yesterday at an initial yield of around 11.65%.

On February 15th, Bloomberg reported that Egypt was mulling over raising up to $1.5 billion through a debut sale of sukuk.