Cairo - Egypt's central bank raised its key interest rates by 200 basis points on Sunday, citing stronger economic growth and falling unemployment, confounding the expectations of economists who forecast rates were unlikely to change. At a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee, the bank hiked its overnight deposit rate to 16.75 percent from 14.75 percent and its overnight lending rate to 17.75 from 15.75 percent, it announced in a statement. This was the bank's first increase in rates since an aggressive hiked of 300 basis points in November. Egypt floated its currency in November and it has roughly halved in value since then. The move helped it clinch a three-year $12 billion International Monetary Fund lending programme tied to ambitious reforms such as tax hikes and subsidy cuts.