CAIRO - Egypt's central bank kept its key interest rates unchanged during its monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on Thursday, the bank said in a statement.

The committee has kept the overnight lending rate at 9.25% and the overnight deposit rate at 8.25% since November, their lowest since July 2014.

All but one of 18 analysts polled by Reuters believed the bank would keep rates on hold at its regular monetary policy committee meeting, as it strives to attract portfolio investment while tamping down inflation.  

"The MPC decided that keeping policy rates unchanged remains consistent with achieving the inflation target of 7% (+/- 2 percentage points) on average... and price stability over the medium term".

Annual urban consumer inflation climbed to 6.6% in September, its highest since January 2020, from 5.7% in August. Last month's figure nevertheless remains well within the target range of 5%-9% set by the central bank.  

Egypt's economy appears to be bouncing back from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, with gross domestic product growing by 7.7% in the quarter to the end of June compared with a contraction of 1.7% in the same quarter last year, according to government data.

(Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad Editing by Chris Reese and Marguerita Choy) ((mahmoud.mourad@thomsonreuters.com;))