Rate cut to save Egypt’s Palm Hills $4.8 mln on financing costs

Egyptian property company Palm Hills said on Thursday it would save between 70-80 million Egyptian pounds ($4.25 million – $4.8 million) on financing costs after the country’s central bank cut interest rates.

The central bank in late August cut key interest rates by 150 basis points for the first time since February.

It cut the overnight deposit rate to 14.25 percent from 15.75 percent and the overnight lending rate to 15.25 percent from 16.75 percent.

Palm Hills said it looks forward for more improvements by the end of 2020 given anticipated interest rate cuts in the coming period.

Net debts reached 2.6 billion pounds during the first half of the year, the property developer said in a statement.

Financing expenses and interests registered nearly 104.6 million pounds at the end of June from 106.8 million pounds in the same period last year.

Companies operating in steel and real estate investment industries – mainly Ezz Steel, Palm Hills, Ghabbour, and SODIC – are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of the central bank’s rate cuts, according to a Mubasher poll.