Egypt Makes Jumbo Rate Hike as Pressure Grows on Pound
- Central bank raises rates 300 basis points, most since 2016
- Middle Eastern nation is facing foreign-exchange crunch
Egypt's central bank in Cairo, Egypt.
Photographer: Shawn Baldwin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Egypt hiked interest rates by 300 basis points, the most since 2016, seeking to tackle surging inflation amid expectations of a further devaluation of the pound.
The Monetary Policy Committee raised the deposit rate to 16.25% and the lending rate to 17.25%, it said Thursday in a statement. Although the majority of economists in a Bloomberg survey had predicted an increase, none foresaw the magnitude.