CAIRO, Dec 7 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt’s central bank is issuing on Sunday the first installment of returns for investment certificates purchased to fund the new Suez Canal Development Project.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued on September 1 a decree to govern the financing of the 60 billion Egyptian pound project through investment certificates. The decree pledged the National Egyptian Bank, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire and the Suez Canal Bank to issue investment certificates with multiple categories to use their outcome in financing the project.

The central bank offered certificates worth of 10 Egyptian pounds, 100 Egyptian pounds and 1000 Egyptian pounds.

A source at the bank told state-run news agency MENA that the first installment is worth 1.9 million Egyptian pounds for the 1000-pound certificates and their multiples.

Tareq Qandil, Suez Canal Bank CEO told MENA that the returns will be automatically transferred to the clients’ bank accounts.

The certificates were first issued on September 4 and were available for purchase at the four national banks. The outcome of the certificates would be deposited in the Suez Canal Authority's account at the Central Bank.

On August 5, Sisi launched the mega project, which entails digging a 72-km (45-mile) bifurcation to the Suez Canal as well as developing the Suez Canal region. Digging the bifurcation is expected to cost $4 billion.

The government had announced that five-year investment certificates with an interest rate of 12 percent would be used to finance the project. Certificates were chosen to finance the 60 billion Egyptian-pounds project as they do not grant certificate-holders ownership rights.