Egypt's central bank raises interest rate to 27.75 pct

CAIRO, March 6 (KUNA) -- The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) raised Wednesday the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rates, and the main operation rate by 600 basis points to reach 27.25 percent, 28.25 percent, and 27.75 percent, respectively.

The CBE's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also increased the discount rate by 600 basis points to 27.75 percent, the bank said in a press statement, carried by Egypt's official news agency (MENA).
The move came as the domestic economy has been recently weighed down by foreign exchange shortages resulting in the existence of a parallel exchange rate market and constraining economic growth, coupled with the impacts of global inflationary pressures, it said.
The resulting exchange rate movements and significant pass-through of international commodity prices, associated with domestic supply shocks, have resulted in persistent inflationary pressures driving headline inflation to record levels, it added.
Despite recent slow annual inflation rates, they are expected to exceed the central bank's targeted and announced rate of seven percent on average by the fourth quarter of 2024, it said. (end) ism.mt.