Egyptian Central Bank Holds Interest Rates Steady

The Egyptian Central Bank announced that its Monetary Policy Committee decided in its meeting today, Thursday, to keep the main interest rates unchanged. The bank stated in a statement that the overnight lending rate remained at 20.25 percent, while the overnight deposit rate stayed at 19.25 percent. The Monetary Policy Committee noted in a statement that the real GDP growth rate slowed to 2.9 percent during the second quarter of 2023 compared to a rate of 3.9 percent in the first quarter, resulting in a growth rate of 3.8 percent for the entire fiscal year 2022/2023, which ended on June 30. The growth rate of the economy was 6.7 percent in the fiscal year 2021/2022. The statement indicated that "the GDP growth rate is expected to continue to slow during the fiscal year 2023/2024 before gradually rising again thereafter."