The Egyptian government is taking advantage of the latest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve by increasing its Eurobond sale to $1.5bn (€1.77bn).

Talk earlier this week was of a $1bn deal, and previous talk was of a deal up to $500m. But bookrunners Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley had received $3bn of orders by midday Friday, said a debt banker at Merrill. It is Egypt's first Eurobond and is believed to be among the biggest debut issues ever from an emerging markets borrower.