Egypt’s central bank’s monetary panel keeps key interest rates on hold

Egypt’s central bank kept its key interest rates on hold on Thursday, the bank said in a statement.

The bank’s monetary policy committee held the overnight lending rate at 9.25 percent and the overnight deposit rate at 8.25 percent for a third consecutive time, after cutting rates in September and November.

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Early this month, Bloomberg had reported that Egypt’s headline inflation accelerated at its fastest pace since December but remained below the target range, making rising global bond yields a more important factor in the coming rate decision.

The annual inflation rate climbed to 4.5 percent in February from 4.3 percent in January after two consecutive months of deceleration. On a monthly basis, consumer prices inched up 0.2 percent, the state-run statistics agency CAPMAS had said in a report.

Read more: Egypt inflation accelerates at fastest pace since December, remains below target