Reuters: Egypt’s central bank likely to keep interest rates unchanged

Egypt’s central bank is expected to keep its overnight deposit and lending rates unchanged at its monetary policy committee meeting on Thursday, after inflation accelerated over the past two months, a poll of analysts showed.

The central bank has kept interest rates on hold since raising them by 600 basis points in March as part of an $8 billion expansionary loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The hike came after a 2 percentage point hike in borrowing costs in January.

A Reuters poll of 16 analysts expected the central bank to keep its overnight deposit and lending rates unchanged at 27.25% and 28.25% respectively at its regular monetary policy committee meeting.

Inflation in Egypt has been on a downward trend since peaking at 38.0% in September 2023, but it unexpectedly rose in August and September.