NBE, Banque Misr cut interest rate on US dollar CDs

Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) on Tuesday announced a reduction in the interest rate for the three-year dollar-denominated certificates of deposits (CDs) with a quarterly return to five percent – down from six percent annually.

The interest rate on the three-year CDs with a prepaid return, equivalent to the Egyptian pound, fell to 7.5 percent – down from eight percent annually – with cumulative rate of 22.5 percent.

The emergence of these high-yield certificates was linked to the worsening foreign exchange crisis that Egypt suffered two years prior to the recent economic reforms in March.

The NBE reduced the interest rate on the three-year “Al Ahly Fawran” and “Al Ahly Plus” dollar-denominated savings certificates by 0.5 percent.

The annual return on “Al Ahly Fawran” certificate fell to 7.5 percent from eight percent, while the return on the “Al Ahly Plus” certificate decreased to 5.5 percent annually from six percent.

The reduced return rate applies only to new certificate issues, not existing ones.