Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is forecast to leave key interest rates unchanged after the 3% hike made two weeks ago on the pound's free flotation.
"The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will not lower key rates no earlier than three or four months at least," said Hesham Ibrahim, a professor of finance and investment at Cairo University, believing that the CBE should stabilize the monetary policy in order to absorb the aggressive increases in the prices of goods and commodities.
Rami Orabi, a macroeconomic analyst at Pharos Research said the market still needs further time for adjusting to the 3% interest rate rise, expecting any future hike to occur no earlier than mid-2017.
"Higher policy rates aim at lower local consumption ratio so as to put an end to price increases, which is all in all the main objective according to the Egyptian government's statements", Orabi told Mubasher on Thursday.
Before the recent rise in key rates, the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the CBE’s main operation stood at 11.75%, 12.75%, and 12.25% respectively.
