Egypt Makes Jumbo Rate Hike to Tackle Prices Hit by Devaluations

Customers shop at a food market in the Al-Khalifa district of Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. Egypt’s urban inflation accelerated at its fastest pace in five years as several rounds of currency devaluation filtered through to consumers.Photographer: Islam Safwat/Bloomberg

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By Mirette Magdy and Tarek El-Tablawy

March 30, 2023 at 5:04 PM UTC

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Egypt resumed a cycle of monetary tightening as the central bank tries to tackle inflation that’s been stoked by currency devaluations.

The Monetary Policy Committee raised the deposit rate by 200 basis points to 18.25% and the lending rate to 19.25%, it said in a statement Thursday. All but one of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted an increase although they were split on the magnitude.