Economists polled by Reuters believe that the central bank is likely to leave interest rates unchanged when its monetary policy committee meets on Thursday. "High interest rates are acting to dissuade the private sector from investing and, therefore, economic growth will not be optimised, as few new jobs are, so far, being created," said Pharos Holding COO Angus Blair. EFG Hermes, meanwhile, believes that interest rates should drop fall 200 bps by December, said EFG Hermes head of research Ahmed Shams. The investment bank had lowered Egypt’s GDP growth projections for FY2017-18 by 10 bps to 3.7% on account of the interest rate hikes earlier this year, he said in an interview with Al Shorouk.

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