The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided on Thursday to maintain the overnight interest rate on deposits and loans, and principle transactions at 15.75, 16.25 and 16.75 percent respectively, a CBE Monetary Committee report stated. The credit and discount rate was also kept unchanged at 16.25 percent. The CBE Monetary Committee said that headline inflation declined to 13 percent in April 2019, from 14.2 percent in March 2019. Core inflation also declined, from 8.9 percent to 8.1 percent in the same period. The slight uptick in the GDP growth rate continued, registering 5.6 percent during the first quarter of 2019, compared to 5.5 percent in the last quarter of 2018. The unemployment rate witnessed a decline from 8.9 percent to 8.1 percent during the same period. The report said the Ministry of Finance is targeting an initial surplus of two percent of the GDP during the fiscal year of 2018-2019, compared to one percent achieved in the fiscal year of 2017-2018. The ministry is also aiming to maintain this surplus rate during the upcoming years.
