Egypt’s Central Bank Offer 8 Billion Pounds in Repos Today

Egypt will offer repurchase contracts valued at 8 billion pounds ($1.34 billion) today, allowing government security holders to sell them back to the central bank to access funds for a week at 9.25 percent.

The central bank accepted all of the 9.8 billion pounds in bids for the agreements, or repos, last week, the highest amount this quarter. The amount offered today compares with 13 billion pounds last week.

The repurchase facility was started in March to ease pressure from local banks, which became the primary investors in government securities after foreign investors withdrew amid the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak as president. The interest rate on repo contracts hasn’t changed since the start.

Egypt’s 5.75 percent 10-year dollar bond due April 2020 advanced, sending the yield seven basis points, or 0.07 basis points, lower to 5.81 percent at 12:21 p.m. in Cairo. The pound was little changed at 5.9685 per dollar.