CAIRO (Reuters) -Egypt’s central bank kept key interest rates unchanged on Thursday, pausing a trend of rate reductions despite inflation rates easing.
The bank’s monetary policy committee held the overnight deposit rate at 24% and the lending rate at 25%, it said in a statement.
The decision was in line with median forecasts in a Reuters poll of 19 analysts that indicated the central bank would leave its main overnight interest rates unchanged.
“The CBE nowcast for Q2 2025 signals a sustained recovery in economic activity, which is projected to remain close to the 4.8 percent annual figure recorded in Q1 2025 compared to 2.4 percent in Q2 2024,” the statement added.
Egypt’s headline inflation dropped to 14.9% in June from 16.8% in May, after peaking at 38% in September 2023.
The central bank cut its rates twice this year, a 225-basis-point cut in April and a 100-basis-point cut in May, as part of a broader strategy to support economic recovery along with ongoing IMF-backed reforms.
(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Yomna EhabWriting by Tala Ramadan and Nayera AbdallahEditing by Peter Graff)
