The Central Bank of Egypt kept key interest rates unchanged on Thursday. It expects annual headline inflation to accelerate through the third quarter of 2026 before easing later.
The Monetary Policy Committee held its third meeting of the year and decided to maintain the overnight deposit rate at 19 percent and the overnight lending rate at 20 percent. The main operation rate and the credit and discount rate stayed at 19.5 percent.
Annual headline inflation fell to 14.9 percent in April from 15.2 percent in March, while core inflation declined to 13.8 percent from 14 percent. The bank attributed the monthly slowdown mainly to lower food prices.
The central bank projects real GDP growth of around 5 percent for the 2025/2026 fiscal year after growth eased to 5 percent in the first quarter of 2026. Unemployment stood at 6 percent in that quarter.
Inflation is expected to stay above the 7 percent target range with a 2 percent margin through the end of 2026 and to approach target levels only in the second half of 2027.
