Egypt Holds Rates With Elections Seen Delaying Next Devaluation
The Central Bank of Egypt building in Cairo.
Photographer: Islam Safwat/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Egypt’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged, likely saving its next bout of monetary tightening for another currency devaluation that’s widely expected to follow December’s presidential elections.
The Monetary Policy Committee maintained its deposit rate at 19.25% and the lending rate at 20.25%, it said Thursday in a statement. Nine of 13 economists in a Bloomberg survey correctly predicted the decision, which leaves the benchmark at its highest level in data that stretches back to 2006.