The Egyptian central bank Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the fifth straight month at its lowest level since November 2006, as inflation slowed. The Monetary Policy Committee left the overnight deposit rate at 8.25 per cent, and also kept the overnight lending rate at 9.75 per cent, the Cairo-based central bank said on its website today. All seven economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast that the bank would keep rates unchanged. Urban inflation slowed to 12.2 per cent in March from 12.8 per cent in the previous month. Economic growth in the most populous Arab country has slowed since 2008 as the global financial crisis hurt revenue from the Suez Canal, tourism and foreign direct investment. "We believe the Central Bank of Egypt will hold interest rates at the current level given the slight decline in March 2010 inflation and the need to focus on growth," Cairo-based investment bank HC Securities & Investment said in an e-mailed note before the announcement. Egypt's economy expanded 5 per cent in the last quarter of 2009. The government expects growth of more than 5 per cent in the fiscal year that ends in June, compared with 4.7 per cent the previous year. That's still below the average of 7 per cent achieved in the three fiscal years through June 2008. The rate of core inflation, which excludes the prices of fruits and vegetables along with regulated prices, rose to 7 per cent in March from 6.9 per cent.
