Banks follow Central Bank of Egypt’s lead with interest rate cuts

Major state-owned banks followed the CBE’s lead by cutting interest rates on their changing-yield certificates of deposit (CDs) but left interest on their platinum CDs unchanged, Mubasher news services reported. National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr cut interest to 16% from 17% on CDs with changing yields linked to the corridor rate and left yields on platinum CDs unchanged at 15.25%. Banque du Caire will meet this week to decide on its rates but will most likely follow suit with a cut, Chairman Tarek Fayed said.