Egypt will offer its citizens living outside the country $2 billion in three- and five-year certificates of deposit (CDs) within one or two weeks, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

The CDs will carry an interest rate of "no more than 4 percent" and have maturities of three to five years, Finance Minister Mumtaz al-Saeed told Reuters.

The government has been looking for ways to finance budget and balance of payments deficits that have widened dramatically during the economic and political turmoil of the last year.

The country has said it is also looking to sell land to Egyptians living abroad and Islamic sukuk instruments to help plug an external financing shortage estimated at $11 billion over the next 18 months. - Reuters