Egypt central bank raises lending, deposit rates

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)'s monetary policy committee raised its key lending rate and deposit rate by 50 basis points each to stand at 10.75 percent and 9.75 percent respectively, the committee reported following a Thursday meeting. It was the first time for the rates to be increased since November 2011. The bank also lifted the discount rate and the weekly repurchase agreement (repo) rate by 75 and 50 basis points respectively. They currently both stand at 10.25 percent. Earlier on Thursday, Ahram Online reported that slight interest rate increases were expected due to dramatic increases in headline inflation in February and the recent devaluation of the local currency. Cairo-based investment bank Beltone Financial had earlier forecast that the deposit rate would be raised to 9.75 percent and the lending rate raised to 10.5 percent. Source: Ahram Online