NBE raises interest rates on savings accounts

CAIRO – 13 July 2017: The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Egypt’s largest public bank, has hiked its interest rates on savings accounts by 0.5 percent as of August, the bank’s CEO Hisham Okasha said Thursday.

The move comes in response to the Central Bank’s decision to raise interest rates by 200 bps on July 7.

Okasha added that interest rates on the 6-months deposits were increased by 0.75 percent. Meanwhile, the bank kept its 18-month certificates of deposit (CDs) at 20 percent and three-year certificates of deposit at 16 percent interest unchanged.

The NBE is the second public bank to hike interest rates after Banque du Caire, which raised its interest rates on certificates by two percent.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided last Thursday to raise interest rates by two percent in a surprise move aimed to tame inflation, which is expected to rise over the coming period on the back of slashing fuel and electricity subsides as well as a one percent increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT).

The CBE hiked the overnight deposit rate to 18.75 percent from 16.75 percent and the overnight lending rate to 19.75 from 17.75 percent. This is the third time the CBE raises interest rates since the flotation of the Egyptian pound in November last year.