Economics

Egypt Holds Rates as Oil Price Rise Stokes Inflation Worries

  • Oil price poses ‘upside risk’ to Egypt’s inflation outlook
  • Rise in U.S. yields complicates timing of further cuts: Khan
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Egypt’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday, as the government prepares for a new round of fuel subsidy cuts against a backdrop of rising global oil prices.

The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Governor Tarek Amer, held the overnight deposit rate at 16.75 percent -- in line with predictions by five out of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The overnight lending rate was kept at 17.75 percent.