Egypt’s central bank maintains key interest rates

Egypt’s central bank maintains key interest rates

Egypt's central bank maintains key interest rates - Economy - Business









The CBE reported the lowest core inflation ever, coupled, nonetheless, with a contraction in GDP and higher unemployment rates







Doaa A.Moneim

, Thursday 25 Jun 2020







Central Bank of Egypt (Photo: Reuters)













The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided on Thursday to keep the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the main operation unchanged at 9.25 percent, 10.25 percent, and 9.75 percent, respectively.

The discount rate was also kept unchanged at 9.75 percent.

According to a CBE statement, annual headline urban inflation declined to 4.7 percent in May 2020, down from 5.9 percent in April 2020, supported by muted inflationary pressures as well as favourable base effects where monthly headline inflation recorded zero in May 2020, down from 1.1 percent in May 2019.

The decline of annual headline inflation was mainly driven by lower annual food contribution, supported by favourable base effects stemming mainly from Ramadan and Eid-Al-Fitr being in May in 2019 compared to April and May in 2020, as well as lower annual non-food