CAIRO (Reuters) — Egypt has issued 3-year panda bonds worth 3.5 billion yuan ($479 million), the finance ministry said on Monday, the latest in a string of less conventional borrowings as it grapples with a mushrooming foreign debt repayment schedule.

The panda bonds, Egypt’s first such issue, were priced at 3.5% annually for three years, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said, signalling that was a lower interest rate than for dollar-denominated bonds.