Egypt’s Banque Misr cuts rates on variable-return certificates of deposit

Banque Misr has lowered the interest rates on its variable-return certificate of deposit by 1.5 percent, the vice chairman of Egypt’s second largest bank said on Thursday.

“The bank decided to cut the interest rates on its variable-return certificates of deposit by 1.5 percent to 14.5 percent from 16 percent,” Akef ElMaghraby told Amwal Al Ghad.

The move came after the central bank made it first cut in key interest rates since February as July inflation figures were significantly below expectations. The overnight lending rate was cut by 150 basis points to 15.25 percent, the Egyptian central bank said in a statement after a meeting of its monetary policy committee (MPC) on Thursday evening.

Headline inflation slowed to 8.7 percent in July from 9.4 percent in June, surprising analysts who had expected inflationary pressures to surge following a round of subsidy cuts that pushed fuel prices 16-30 percent higher.