Egypt’s Central Bank kept its key interest rates unchanged during its monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting Thursday night, the bank said in a statement.
The committee kept the overnight lending rate at 9.25 percent and the overnight deposit rate at 8.25 percent for a sixth consecutive time, after cutting rates in September and November.
Egypt has some of the highest real interest rates in the world, which has helped to attract investment in treasuries but discouraged corporate borrowing.
Egypt’s GDP grew 2.8 percent in the 2020/21 fiscal year according to preliminary calculations, down from 3.6 percent the previous year, the MPC noted.
However, sectoral growth was picking up particularly in the trade, construction, communications and natural gas sectors, as global economic activity recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, it said according to Reuters.
