{"id":564063,"date":"2021-08-05T14:30:02","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T14:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/08\/05\/tonight-egypt-awaits-interest-rate-figures-global-markets-have-monetary-policy-on-the-mind-also-egypts-handball-team-to-compete-for-bronze-saturday\/"},"modified":"2021-08-05T14:30:02","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T14:30:02","slug":"tonight-egypt-awaits-interest-rate-figures-global-markets-have-monetary-policy-on-the-mind-also-egypts-handball-team-to-compete-for-bronze-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/08\/05\/tonight-egypt-awaits-interest-rate-figures-global-markets-have-monetary-policy-on-the-mind-also-egypts-handball-team-to-compete-for-bronze-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"TONIGHT: Egypt awaits interest rate figures. + Global markets have monetary policy on the mind. ALSO: Egypt\u2019s handball team to compete for bronze Saturday."},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a busy end to an uncharacteristically busy week in August<\/strong>, which usually sees local and international news slow down for the summer. So if you\u2019ve been busy all week, give yourselves a pat on the back and enjoy the rest of your weekend.<\/p>\n

<\/a> THE BIG STORY TODAY- It\u2019s interest rate day<\/strong>, as the central bank\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee is meeting today to decide on interest rates. Expectations are high that the CBE will err on the side of caution and hold interest rates amid global inflationary pressures. All 12 analysts we\u2019ve surveyed expect<\/a> the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged for the sixth consecutive time. Ditto Bloomberg<\/a>, whose 11 surveyed analysts also see interest rates unchanged.<\/p>\n

Inflation, inflation, inflation: <\/strong>Egypt so far has largely been insulated from the inflationary pressures, with inflation barely moving from 4.3%<\/a> in January, with the headline urban rate inching up only 60 bps to 4.9%<\/a> in June, remaining below the lower-bound of the central bank\u2019s 7% (\u00b12%) target range. However, the situation globally has policy makers jittery. Policymakers need to pre-empt heightened food prices stoked by rising international commodity prices, Beltone\u2019s director of macro and strategy Alia Mamdouh told us. Add to that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi\u2019s call on Tuesday that the price for subsidized bread needs to be increased. Inflation figures for July should be out next Tuesday. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The other consideration is, of course, the carry trade.<\/strong> Egypt still has the highest real interest rates among more than 50 economies tracked by Bloomberg. \u201cThat ranking has helped raise foreign holdings in Egyptian debt to more than USD 28 bn, important funding while the tourism industry awaits full recovery from the coronavirus pandemic,\u201d the newswire says. However, other emerging-market peers such as Russia, Brazil and Ukraine are tightening policy, potentially competing with Egypt\u2019s debt. Analysts, however, including Simon Williams, HSBC\u2019s chief economist for Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, see no need for Egypt to do the same, according to Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

The MPC\u2019s decision should be out by 6pm CLT today.<\/strong> We will have detailed coverage on the decision in Sunday\u2019s EnterpriseAM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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** CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> on the top stories from today\u2019s EnterpriseAM<\/strong>:<\/p>\n