Egypt Misses Goal for Nine-Month T-Bill Sale as Yields Rise

Egypt missed its fund-raising target for a second-straight auction of Treasury bills as the yield on nine-month notes rose to match the 31-month peak it reached in June.

The Arab country sold 2 billion pounds in nine-month securities out of the 3.5 billion pounds it had targeted, according to data posted on the Finance Ministry website. The average yield on the notes gained seven basis points, or 0.07 percentage point from an auction of similar-maturity bills last week to 12.981 percent, the highest level since June 26. The ministry also sold three-month notes at an average yield of 11.995 percent, five basis points higher than last week, according to the data.

Yields on Egyptian Treasury bills are near the highest levels in almost three years after the revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The government was able to bring down its borrowing costs briefly last month after cancelling a Treasury bill sale in June because investors were demanding high returns, before rates resumed gains this month.

The yield on Egypt's 5.75 percent 10-year dollar bond due April 2020 advanced 1 basis point to 5.57 percent on Aug. 28. The pound was little changed at 5.9591 per dollar.

Egypt's central bank, which holds weekly treasury bill auctions on behalf of the Finance Ministry, plans to raise 11 billion pounds at treasury bill sales by Sept. 5. It will seek bids for a combined 5 billion pounds in three-month and nine- month bills on Sept. 4 and a combined 6 billion pounds in six- month and one-year notes on Sept. 5, according to data it posted on Bloomberg today.