CAIRO- Foreign holdings of Egyptian treasuries have risen to more than $23 billion, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said at an economic conference on Wednesday, in a strong rebound after a sell-off early in the coronavirus pandemic.

A month ago, Maait put the figure at $21 billion.

Foreign holdings fell by more than half at the outset of the pandemic in March to $9.5 billion as foreign investors pulled funds out of emerging markets. The holdings reached a nadir of about $7.1 billion in May.

Egyptian treasuries bear some of the highest real interest rates in emerging markets, analysts say.

($1 = 15.6100 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Ahmed Ismail and Mohamed Sayed; Writing by Patrick Werr; Editing by Toby Chopra) ((patrick.werr@thomsonreuters.com;))