CAIRO: Egypt next week will begin marketing Islamic sukuk bonds with which it hopes to finance 10 large electricity, transport, supply and industry projects, the state MENA news agency reported.

A roadshow will visit the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait, MENA quoted Ahmed Al-Gebali, an adviser to Egypt’s Finance Minister, as saying.

Gebali did not give a value for the projects, saying feasibility studies were still underway.

Egypt’s President Mohamed Mursi approved a sukuk law on May 11 that will allow the country to issue Islamic bonds.

The sukuk could help Egypt plug a budget deficit that has widened since a popular uprising that ousted President Mubarak in 2011.

Egypt said it aims to issue a debut sovereign sukuk early next year, according to a May 22 prospectus for a new $ 12 billion bond program.

It has appointed HSBC Holdings and Qatar National Bank as joint lead arrangers and dealers for the program.