Egypt cuts interest rates for first time in 5 years

Egypt’s central bank lowered overnight interest rates by 225 basis points (bps) on Thursday, its first cut in more than five years, saying lower inflation had opened the way to yet further rate cuts in the future.

The bank lowered the lending rate to 26 percent and the deposit rate to 25 percent. The median forecast in a Reuters poll of 17 analysts on Monday was for the central bank’s monetary policy committee to cut rates by 200 bps.

Annual headline inflation has been trending downwards since September 2023, when it hit a record high of 38 percent, falling to 12.8 percent in February and 13.6 percent in March from 24 percent in January.