Egypt to rejoin JP Morgan’s index

Finance Minister, Mohamed Maait stated that Egypt will joining the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index in January 2022.

This came after years of negotiations as Egypt was removed from the index in June 2011 due to the economic hardships in the aftermath of the 25 January revolution.

Now the country rejoins the index with a 1.8% weight and 14 government bonds worth $26 billion.

In the same month, Egypt will join also the Environment and Governance Index with 1.1%, as Egypt issued green bonds in 2020.

The move is expected to trigger around $1 billion investments in government equity thus reducing the cost of government debt and raise its efficiency.

CBE stated that external debt that Egypt has to repay in 1st half in 2022 is at $11.9billion and by end of year should be at $17.9

JP Morgan added that 90% of investors surveyed were in favor of Egypt rejoining the index.