The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) issued treasury bills worth 18 billion pounds ($1.14 billion) on Thursday, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, to finance the budget deficit. The value of the first offering amounted to 3.5 billion pounds for a period of 182 days, the CBE said on its website. The value of the second offering amounted to 14.5 billion pounds for a period of 364 days, it said. The Egyptian Ministry of Finance (MoF) had announced the possibility of reducing the acceptable quantities of bids for bills and bonds on the public treasury, issued in local currency until the end of the current fiscal year. Egypt had received $2.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reflecting the value of rapid credit financing granted to the Egyptian government.