Egypt’s CBE to review key interest rates on Thursday first in 2022

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is scheduled to convene on Thursday, the first meeting in 2023, to review the key interest rates in light of the recent updates in the country’s macroeconomy.

The CBE hiked interest rates by an unprecedented eight percent (800 bps) over 2022.

The meeting, which comes a few days before releasing January inflation readings, will be held amid expectations that the MPC may hike interest rates by up to two percent (200 bps), as the local inflation maintains its upturn trend.

However, the median estimate in a Reuters poll is for a 150-bps hike. The central bank raised interest rates by 800 bps last year to support the EGP and curb inflation in response to the economic crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine and tightening financial conditions globally.

Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation continued to rise in December, recording 21.3 percent, the highest since the end of 2017, according to the latest figures published early January by the Central Agency of Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).