Maait: Egypt to issue $ 500m Panda bonds soon to bolster green investments

14 / 10 / 2023

By Marwa Nassar - -

Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait asserted that Egypt will issue in the coming period $500 million Chinese Panda bonds with an aim to bolster its drive for green economy transition through expanding projects of green transportation, renewable energy, sustainable management of water, and sanitation.

Maait made the remarks on the fringe of a meeting held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) meetings in Marrakesh.

He said Egypt’s total green investments rose from 15 percent in 2019-2020 FY to 30% in 2020-2021 FY, highlighting Egypt’s plans to up green investments to 50 percent of total investments by the coming fiscal year in addition to producing 42 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2035.

Maait noted that the government has recently offered a bundle of new incentives for green economy transition, including encouraging electric vehicle (EV) industry through bearing 35 percent of the cost of each locally produced EV.

Moreover, Maait referred to Egypt’s tendering of an initiative of debt alliance for sustainable development to catalyze eco-friendly investments and ease debt burdens on developing countries.

The initiative will open new vistas of consultations on the correlation between debts, climate and development.

He noted that drawing up a debt-for-climate action mechanism will promote environmental and financial resilience.

He stressed that the debt crisis should turn to be part of the solution, noting that Egypt encourages the flow of more sustainable investments to support green growth and address environment challenges.