Egypt’s $18 Billion Debt Inflows Seen Peaking as Rate Cut Looms

Egypt’s $18 Billion Debt Inflows Seen Peaking as Rate Cut Looms

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Foreign investors may be finally curbing their enthusiasm for Egyptian local-currency debt. After almost a year and $18 billion of purchases, some investors have allocated all they can to Egypt. The inflows from foreign funds are still growing, but the pace has slowed to an average of 2 percent a week since mid-August, down from 8 percent, as policy makers signaled they may lower record interest rates once inflation eases. The surge…

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Egypt Inflation Rate Surges to Record After Subsidy Cuts

Egypt Inflation Rate Surges to Record After Subsidy Cuts

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s urban annual inflation rate accelerated in July to its highest level in decades, fuelled by a new round of subsidy cuts ordered under the government’s economic reform program. Annual consumer prices in urban areas climbed 33 percent, up from 29.8 percent in June, according to the state-run CAPMAS statistics agency. The month-on-month rate accelerated to 3.2 percent from 0.8 percent in June. Fuel and electricity price increases went into effect at…

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Central Bank of Egypt Keeps Policy Rate Unchanged at 10.75% in April

Central Bank of Egypt Keeps Policy Rate Unchanged at 10.75% in April

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa — In its meeting held on April 28, 2016, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) main operation unchanged at 10.75 percent, 11.75 percent, and 11.25 percent, respectively. The discount rate was also kept unchanged at 11.25 percent. Annual headline CPI remained at around 9 percent in February and March 2016,…

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Central Bank of Egypt to auction US$1.5bn to stabilise the currency

Central Bank of Egypt to auction US$1.5bn to stabilise the currency

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa — Egypt’s central bank will offer US$1.5 billion today  in its third special foreign exchange auction of the week, part of an effort to crush the currency black market and stabilize the Egyptian pound a day after a major devaluation. Egypt devalued the pound on Monday to 8.85 pounds to the dollar from 7.73 pounds and announced that it would shift to a more flexible exchange rate. The equity…

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Egypt Slops Limits on Foreign Currency Deposits for Individuals

Egypt Slops Limits on Foreign Currency Deposits for Individuals

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa — Egypt removed restrictions on the amount of foreign currency individuals can deposit and withdraw from banks, to ease the damage from an intensifying dollar shortage. However, Egyptian banks are still mandated to maintain caps on corporate accounts, Egypt’s central bank said in a statement on its website on Tuesday. The central bank  had limited foreign currency deposits to US$50,000 per month since February, 2015, before easing the rule for…

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Central Bank of Egypt hikes benchmark rates to curb inflationary pressures

Central Bank of Egypt hikes benchmark rates to curb inflationary pressures

Cairo, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa — Central Bank of Egypt raised interest rates for the first time in more than a year in an attempt to curb inflation, according to press release by the central bank.  The last change to the benchmark rate was a half percentage point cut in January, when the central bank cited a weaker inflation outlook following the plunge in global energy prices. The Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Governor Tarek…

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Egypt central bank keeps its interest rates unchanged at 9.75 percent

Egypt central bank keeps its interest rates unchanged at 9.75 percent

Cairo, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa — In its meeting held on September 17, 2015, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the CBE’s main operation unchanged at 8.75 percent, 9.75 percent, and 9.25 percent, respectively. The discount rate was also kept unchanged at 9.25 percent. According to the statement issued by the CBE, the headline Consumer Price…

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