After the announcement of a plan to slash Egypt’s debt, authorities on Jan. 1 unveiled plans to issue treasury bills and bonds worth 181.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($10.1 billion) in January, up from 152.7 billion pounds ($8.5 billion) for the same month a year earlier.

Moreover, the government will increase debt issuances by 14% in the first quarter of 2019, year on year, to 473.7 billion pounds ($26.3 billion), up from 415 billion pounds ($23.1 billion) in the first quarter of 2018.

The Finance Ministry said on its website that it would issue 91-day, 182-day, 273-day and 364-day treasury bills worth 42.5 billion pounds ($2.37 billion), 43.75 billion pounds ($2.44 billion), 42.5 billion pounds ($2.37 billion) and 46 billion pounds ($2.56 billion), respectively. The sovereign debt issuance will also include treasury bonds worth 6.75 billion pounds in maturities between 3 and 10 years.

The new public debt issuances were revealed after the government unveiled plans to slash the public debt-to-GDP ratio to 80-85% by June 2022. High interest rates have presented financial and monetary authorities with a “tricky situation” in trying to balance the sovereign debt-to-GDP ratio, Sahar el-Damati, an economic and banking expert, told Al-Monitor.