The Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee holds its seventh meeting of 2026 this Thursday, 29 October 2026, to decide on deposit and lending interest rates, after keeping them unchanged at its last meeting in September. Institutions and investment banks increasingly expect rates to be held at their current levels.

A poll conducted by Banky found that about 84% of participating Banky readers expect the CBE to hold interest rates at its meeting tomorrow, Thursday, while about 15% of participants expect a rate hike and 1% expect a cut.

At the meeting, the committee is expected to review domestic and global economic developments, as well as the monetary and financial situation, in order to analyse economic indicators and take the appropriate decisions to achieve financial stability and economic growth.

Financial institutions and investment banks expect the CBE to leave interest rates unchanged at its upcoming meeting, given inflationary pressures from higher global oil and commodity prices and the pound's decline against the dollar, which reduce the chances of resuming the monetary easing cycle for now.

Markets are awaiting the Monetary Policy Committee's interest-rate decision on 29 October 2026, amid pressure on the pound and fears that geopolitical tensions will push inflation higher, even though annual inflation slowed to 13.9% in September.

At the meeting, the committee is expected to review domestic and global economic developments, as well as the monetary and financial situation, in order to analyse economic indicators and take the appropriate decisions to achieve financial stability and economic growth.

At its meeting last September, the CBE's Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep key policy rates unchanged. The overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate and the rate of the CBE's main operation were held at 19.00%, 20.00% and 19.50%, respectively, and the credit and discount rate was kept at 19.50%. The decision reflected the committee's assessment of the latest inflation developments and outlook, as well as changes in the surrounding risks.