The US Dollar – Egyptian Pound exchange rate has risen following Monday’s announcement of a 1% interest rate hike from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
At the time of writing, the US dollar is trading at EGP 17.4, up EGP 1.75 from today’s opening levels.
At the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) – the largest state-run bank in the country – and Banque Misr, the greenback recorded EGP 17.4 for purchase and EGP 17.5 for sale on Monday, compared to EGP 15.64 for purchase and EGP 15.74 for sale on Sunday.
At the Commercial International Bank, the price of US dollar was EGP 16.87 for purchase and EGP 16.97 for sale, compared to EGP 15.66 for purchase and EGP 15.76 for sale yesterday.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBE decided, in its extraordinary meeting, earlier on Monday, to raise the basic interest rates at the CBE by 1%, to reach 9.25% for deposits, 10.25% for lending, and 9.75% for the credit and discount rates and the main operation of the Central Bank.
The committee pointed out that, in the interest of the CBE to maintain macroeconomic stability and its gains, it believes in the importance of exchange rate flexibility to serve as a tool to absorb shocks and maintain Egypt’s competitiveness.
The MPC stressed that achieving low and stable inflation rates in the medium term is a prerequisite for supporting the purchasing power of the Egyptian citizen, and achieving high and sustainable growth rates, pointing out that it will closely follow all economic developments and will not hesitate to use all its monetary tools to achieve the goal of price stability on the medium range.
