The Finance Ministry canceled Tuesday two local bond offerings worth a combined EGP 3.5bn, with maturities of 3YR and 5YR, after investors and banks asked for returns as high as 18.5%, Reuters Arabic reported. The Finance Ministry’s Khaled Abdel Rahman told Reuters that the prices offered were not adequate. He noted that the government is hoping to see average yields on government borrowing instruments drop to an average 14% in FY18-19 from highs of 18.5% in the recently ended fiscal year. The move comes as the Finance Ministry looks to phase out short- and medium-term borrowing in favour of less costly, long-term borrowing.