Egypt's cbank keeps interest rates steady

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's central bank left its key overnight interest rates on hold on Thursday as expected by most analysts and marking the first pause since it began cutting rates in February.

The overnight lending rate was left at 9.75 percent and the deposit rate stayed at 8.25 percent.

"The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep its overnight deposit rate and overnight lending rate unchanged," the bank said on its website without elaborating on the decision.

Seven out of nine economists polled by Reuters had predicted the bank would keep rates on hold. Another two had predicted it would cut rates by 25 basis points.

The central bank had cut interest rates six times this year, with the deposit declining from 11.5 percent and the lending rate from 13.5 percent in February.

Urban inflation rose 1.9 percent month-on-month in September, up from 1.5 percent in August, its second biggest rise in 12 months, according to government data released last month. Year-on-year, September urban prices rose 10.8 percent.

GDP, on the other hand, grew by an annualised 4.9 percent in the first quarter of the financial year that began on July 1, up from 4.7 percent in the 2008/09 financial year.

A new core index the central bank began publishing last week climbed 1.0 percent month-on-month in September, also the second highest increase in the last year.

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