Egyptian president orders new bonds issued for Suez project

Egypt's president has issued a decree to offer new bonds to the public to generate revenue to develop the Suez Canal area, where authorities aim to create new infrastructure and industries and draw foreign investment.

Companies and states recently pledged several billions of dollars to build up the area, including installations to store grain and set up logistics hubs in cities along the vital waterway.

The canal itself is currently undergoing an expansion to allow two-way traffic that is scheduled to open in August. That project was also funded by a bond issue, which collected $8.5 billion in just eight days by selling non-tradable certificates with a maturity of five years at 12 percent interest to Egyptian nationals.