RIYADH: Egypt is preparing to issue an estimated 9.8 billion Egyptian pounds ($500 million) worth of green bonds during the current fiscal year ending in June 2023, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in an interview with Al-Sharq. This comes amid optimism that the global markets will improve during that period. This comes weeks before the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 27, to be held in Sharm El Sheikh city. Egypt also plans to raise external finances by 87 percent to 146.4 billion Egyptian pounds in the new fiscal year 2022-2023, up from 78.4 billion Egyptian pounds in the previous fiscal year"s budget. As part of the new budget, the north African country is also planning to issue international bonds equivalent to 91.5 billion Egyptian pounds, up from 66 billion Egyptian pounds in the last budget. Excluding the International Monetary Fund financing, Egypt will borrow as much as 54.9 billion Egyptian pounds from global financial institutions in the 2022-23 fiscal year, compared to the current fiscal year’s 12.4 billion Egyptian pounds.