Egyptian banks sold over LE8.5 billion ($1.2 billion) worth of investment certificates on Sunday to finance the new parallel Suez Canal project, Hisham Ramez, governor of the Egyptian Central Bank, said.
This brings the total amount of investment so far to LE14.5 billion ($2 billion).
Four state-owned banks, Bank Misr, the National Bank of Egypt, Banque du Caire and the Suez Canal Bank, started issuing the much-anticipated investment certificates last week.
The certificates, limited to Egyptian nationals and corporations, are issued at a value of LE10, LE100, LE1,000 and its multiples, with a maturity of five years at a 12 percent interest rate.
The government is aiming to collect LE60 billion ($8.4 billion), needed for the digging of the Suez Canal extension and six tunnels that will link the east and west banks of the canal.
