By: Mustafa Adel
Cairo – Mubasher: The Egyptian Finance Minister, Amr El Garhy, said Thursday that the government has no plans to raise returns on Suez Canal investment certificates after the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) decision to raise interest rates by 200 basis points.
On the sidelines of a press conference, the minister stated that raising interest rates will lead to lower inflation rates in the upcoming period, noting that the ministry is currently working on determining the financial impact of the move.
The CBE had increased its overnight deposit rate to 16.75% from 14.75% and its overnight lending rate to 17.75% from 15.75%.
Earlier in 2014, the Egyptian government collected EGP 64 billion within eight working days by issuing five-year investment certificates at an interest rate of 12%.
In November 2016, the government had raised the interest rate on the Suez Canal investment certificates to 15.5%.
Translated by: Elwy el-Manzalawy
