Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate edged down to 11% in April, compared to 11.5% in March, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced Sunday, NewsNow reported. In its last meeting in April, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) decided to keep the overnight deposit and lending unchanged at 8.75% and 9.75% respectively. The Central Bank’s main operation and discount rate were also kept at 9.25% each. The CBE will offer Sunday treasury bills estimated at EGP 7 billion ($917m), on the behalf of the Ministry of Finance. The treasury bills were offered in two installments; one valued EGP 3b with a 91-day term; while the other worth 4b with a 266-day term. Egypt’s state budget deficit is expected to reach EGP 240b by the end of the current year. The deficit is to be funded through CBE’s raising t-bills, financial assistance package, and grants from Persian Gulf countries in addition to loans from international financial institutions.
