HC expects CBE to raise policy rates by 100 bps: Egypt

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HC Securities and Investment expects the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hike policy rates by 100 basis points (bps) in its upcoming meeting, according to the research note emailed to Arab Finance on May 16th.

The drawback of a rate increase is the growth in debt servicing costs. Yet, easing the shortfall of foreign exchange via luring more investments is a prerequisite, the investment bank stated.

“We see the recent deceleration in inflation rate to be short-lived and expect inflation to inch up 1% month-on-month (MoM) in May following the recent increase in diesel prices and changes in the ration cards system, averaging at 30.2% for the second half (H2) of 2023, on our numbers,” Heba Monir, Financials analyst and economist at HC commented.

It is worth mentioning that the CBE’s MPC raised key interest rates by 200 bps in its previous meeting in March.