Cairo Studies: Geopolitical tensions and the US Federal Reserve’s stance make keeping interest rates unchanged the most likely outcome for the central bank’s upcoming meeting.

Dr. Abdel Moneim El-Sayed, Director of the Cairo Center for Economic and Strategic Studies, stated that market attention is currently focused on the upcoming meeting of the Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), scheduled for September 24. This comes amid persistent geopolitical challenges that have exerted pressure on monetary policy decisions recently, preventing any progress toward a monetary easing cycle.

Monetary Policy Committee Decisions

El-Sayed noted that the Monetary Policy Committee has opted to keep key interest rates unchanged for four consecutive meetings—held in April, May, July, and August 2024—maintaining the overnight deposit rate, the overnight lending rate, and the rate for the Central Bank’s main operation at 19%, 20%, and 19.50%, respectively. Meanwhile, the discount rate has remained steady at 19.50%.