Egypt has issued dollar-denominated eurobonds worth $5 billion to provide urgent funding to deal with the coronavirus crisis, the finance ministry announced on Friday, describing it as the biggest international bond issuance in its history.

Egypt's central bank left its key interest rates unchanged for the second time and reiterated its view that keeping rates steady is consistent with achieving its inflation target of 9 percent, plus/minus 3 percentage points in the fourth quarter of this year.

Egypt's central bank left its benchmark interest rates steady, saying this would be consistent with achieving its inflation target following the 300 basis point rate cut at an unscheduled monetary policy meeting on March 16.

The coronavirus shock will affect Egypt’s external finances, GDP growth and fiscal performance, and will probably lead to substantial portfolio investment outflows from the local-currency debt market, says Fitch Ratings. However, high levels of international reserves and a recent record of fiscal consolidation and prudent monetary policy may help to mitigate the impact on the country’s credit position.