Egypt to sell diaspora cds at ‘not more than’ 4% interest

Egypt, aiming to raise $2 billion by selling certificates of deposit to its citizens living abroad, said it will issue the securities at an interest rate of “not more than” 4 percent and maturity of three to five years, the Finance Minister said.

The country has presented an economic program to parliament and has held talks with members of its biggest Islamist bloc to obtain approval ahead of submitting the plan to the International Monetary Fund for a loan, Finance Minister Momtaz el-Saieed said in an interview in Cairo today.

If parliament doesn’t approve the plan, its members “have to come up with alternative means of meeting the country’s financing needs,” el-Saieed said.