By Ahmed Kamel Cairo, March 27, 2018 - The central bank eased its monetary policy this week in a bid to boost investment and economic growth. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)may slash interest rates by between 100 and 200 basis points at its meeting on Thursday. Cairo's investment bank Pharos forecast the MPC would cut rates by 100 basis points, or one per cent, because of lower urban and core inflation rates.The business community has been grumbling over the higher cost of borrowing. "The MPC should cut the interest rates by around two per cent to push direct investment and economic growth," said Mahmoud Hussein, a member of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce. "Banks should give their customers loans at lower rates to help investors keep up their businesses and finance expansions," he said. The MPC cut the overnight deposit and lending rates by one per cent to 17.75 and 18.75 per cent respectively on February 15. Earlier, it raised key interest rates by seven per centafter the currency float on November 3, 2016. The measure was aimed at shoring up the pound, to combat inflationary pressures resulting from the flotation. Higher rates have driven banks to offer attractive yields on savings to their customers in a bid to attract more liquidity. In November 2016, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the country's largest lender by assets, Banque Misr and Banque du Caire introduced 18-month certificates of deposits at 20 per cent and three-year certificates of deposit at 16 per cent. In February, the NBE and Banque Misr stopped issuing 20 per cent certificates of deposit (CDs) and launched a new product at 17 per cent yields. Deposits at the local banks hit LE3.176 trillion (around $180.4 billion) at the end of September 2017, CBE data showed. Bank loans stood at LE1.414 trillion at the end of September 2017. Economistshave noted that the inflation rate has fallen significantly, ad have urged the MPC to cut rates. Urban inflation stood at 14.4 per cent in February, down from 17.1 per cent a month earlier, data from the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed. The core inflation rate stood at 11.88 per cent in February,compared to 14.35 per cent a month earlier, CBE data showed. The core inflation rate, which is computed by the central bank, takes out fruit, vegetables and energy from the consumer price index (CPI) components to reveal a stable reading of price levels.
