Cairo – Mubasher: Banque Misr lowered the Egyptian pound deposit interest rates to maintain money cost, vice chairman Akef El-Maghraby told Almal News.

This came as a consequence of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) decision of raising reserve requirement for banks to 14% from 10%, El-Maghraby added.

Saving certificates and loans are excluded from this reduction as it is related to the CBE’s overnight deposit and lending rates, he noted.

Local banks are likely to reduce interest rates due to the CBE’s decision to raise cash reserve ratio (CRR) to 14%, head of research ‎at Pharos Holding Radwa El-Swaify told Bloomberg on Sunday.

On 3 October, the CBE announced boosting CRR to 14% from 10% starting from 10 October 2017.

The CRR settled at 14% between 2001 and 2012, and was gradually lowered since January 2011 by 4%, until it reached 10% to support the Egyptian banking sector.