The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided on Thursday evening to cut interest rates on deposits and lending by 2 percent, or 200 basis points. The overnight deposit rate now stands at 22 percent, and the lending rate is 23 percent. This decision was made during the fifth meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee in 2025.
Previous meetings saw interest rates cut twice by a total of 3.25 percent, and held steady in two other meetings.
Annual urban consumer inflation dropped to 13.9 percent last July from 14.9 percent in June, driven by lower prices for meat, poultry, fruits, and vegetables, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on August 10. In contrast, core inflation slightly increased to 11.6 percent from 11.4 percent, according to the CBE.
In March 2024, the Central Bank allowed the market to determine the Egyptian pound’s exchange rate, supported by an $8 billion financing package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
At that time, it had raised interest rates to tighten monetary policy and curb an expected rise in inflation over the following year.
