First Egyptian Central Bank Rate Hike in Nearly Five Years
March 21, 2022
At an unscheduled meeting, monetary officials in Egypt raised their overnight deposit rate by a full percentage point to 9.25%. That was its first tightening since a hike to 18.75% from 16.75% in July 2017 and the first rate change since a pair of 50-basis point reductions in September and November 2020. At the outset of the pandemic, officials has slashed the rate in March 2020 by three percentage points as well. Consumer prices in Egypt jumped 1.6% on month in February and almost twice as much in January, and that lifted year-on-year inflation to a 32-month high of 8.8% from 7.3% in January and 4.1% in February 2021. Officials reaffirmed that “the path of future policy rates remains a function of inflation expectations, rather than of prevailing inflation rates.”
Copyright 2022, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Central Bank of Egypt
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