Back to the complete issue
Sunday, 20 August 2017

CBE leaves interest rates on hold

The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee left interest rates on Thursday. The overnight deposit rate was held steady at 18.75% while the overnight lending rate was kept the same at 19.75%. Annual urban headline inflation rate increased to 33% in July on account of numerous subsidy cuts and a slight uptick in the value-added tax to 14%, something the CBE had anticipated, the central bank said in a statement (pdf) on Thursday. GDP grew to 4.9% in 4Q2016-17, demonstrating that the economy is on a more sustained growth path, the bank said.

The CBE believes that inflation is on track to meet its target of 13% by 4Q2018, but said more fiscal reforms could have an impact on inflation that would require the CBE to take an ‘adaptive approach’ to monetary policy. Economists had predicted that the CBE would leave interest rates on hold.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.