Sales of Egyptian Treasury bills at 273 and 91 days at Sunday’s auction rose from last week’s lows, as the finance ministry paid higher yields, reflecting a 200 basis point hike in overnight interest rates approved by the central bank. March 30.

After the dollar has lost half its value against the dollar since March last year, analysts say investors are seeking higher returns on expectations of interest rate hikes and the pound continuing to weaken.

Egypt’s finance ministry is making efforts to contain a widening budget deficit gap after being forced to continue paying high interest rates on its massive debt.

The average yield on 273-day bills rose to 23.341 percent from 23.059 percent last week, both records surpassing the record of 22.444 percent set on July 11, 2017.

The central bank accepted only 76 bids worth 5.58 billion Egyptian pounds ($181 million) for 273-day bills, out of 203 bids worth 32.66 billion pounds. Last week, he accepted a bid of just £79.38 million.

The average yield on 91-day Treasury bills rose to 21.297 percent from 20.924 percent last week. This is down from the average return of 22.523 percent on July 11, 2017.

Of the 519 bids received by the central bank worth 58.55 billion pounds, 91-day bills accepted only 239 bids worth 4.47 billion pounds. Last week, it only accepted bids worth £324.1 million.