Egypt close to issuing $500 million Japan Samurai bond, foreign minister says

TOKYO, June 4 (Reuters) - Egypt is finalising plans for its first yen-denominated bond sale in three years, foreign minister Badr Abdelatty told Reuters on a trip to Japan on Thursday.

The African Development Bank said in December it would partially guarantee Cairo's planned $500 million-equivalent Samurai bonds on the Japanese markets this year.

"We are completing the final steps," Abdelatty said on the sidelines of an event in Tokyo, adding that he had been promoting the sale and other investment opportunities while in Japan.

"We had extensive discussions with our Japanese friends on monetary, fiscal, financial support, especially with regard to budget support and samurai bonds as well." Egypt's struggling economy has been boosted in recent years by major real estate investments and an $8 billion IMF loan, though the Iran war is piling pressure on its precarious finances by hiking energy costs and pushing up inflation.

The bond sale would be Egypt's third in the currency, following issuances in 2022 and 2023.

"It will be very important, despite the fact that we've been hit hard with implications of the (Iran) war," Abdelatty said. (Reporting by John Geddie in Tokyo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)