(Ecofin Agency) - Egypt plans to issue its first ever bonds denominated in Japanese yen and Chinese yuan in 2019, Mohamed Maait (photo), the country’s finance minister indicated last week.

According to the official’s statements relayed by Bloomberg, the new issuance falls within the framework of the governùent’s strategy to raise funds on the Asian market. It should help it diversify debt instruments and reduce its dependency on the dollars.

"We want to diversify our debt instruments and currencies. We aim to have a basket of bonds in several currencies", the official said in an interview granted to the American media.  

Though no detail has been provided about the amount of this planned operation, the minister indicated that some "requirements" need to be met before an effective launch of the operation.

Let’s note that this announcement is made weeks after a precedent one indicating that Egypt was planning to issue up to $5 billion in the coming months to boost foreign direct investments.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou