Cairo – Mubasher: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is likely to keep interest rates unchanged in the first quarter of 2019, Deutsche Bank said in a research note.

However, the CBE may incline to cut interest rate by 100 basis points rate next March, Enterprise reported, citing the bank.

“Given the upside risks to inflation stemming from further subsidy cuts in Q2-19 and the adjustment to customs exchange rate for luxury and nonessential goods, the CBE is more likely to start easing by the end of Q2-19,” according to the research note.

The CBE’s monetary policy committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 14 February to review the interest rates.

Deutsche Bank expected that Egypt would not achieve its budget deficit targets this fiscal year.

The CBE is likely to cut interest rates to average between 2% and 3% next year, according to a poll conducted by Mubasher.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected Egypt’s inflation rate to slash to 12.9% in 2019.