Egypt announced it is ready to officially join the JP Morgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM for emerging markets by the end of January next year, CNBC Arabia reported citing the finance minister. Upon joining, Egypt will become one of only two countries in the Middle East North Africa region to make the index. Mohamed Maait said that Egypt has an estimated weight of 1.8 percent in the index with 14 categories of government bonds valued at $26 billion. This move will enable major investment funds and foreign investors to invest in Egyptian debt instruments in the local currency, Maait said. Egypt will also join the JP Morgan ESG Index at the same time, based on October 2020’s green bond issuance, with a weighting percentage of 1.18 percent, said Niven Mansour, advisor to the deputy minister of finance.