Reviewing Egypt’s Economic Scene in H1 2025

Updated 7/19/2025 9:00:00 AM

Over the past few years, the Egyptian economy has faced many hurdles that negatively impacted its overall performance. These headwinds, mainly stemming from regional conflicts, continued during the first half (H1) of the current year, affecting key economic indicators.

In this factsheet, we will monitor and analyze recent developments in Egypt’s key monetary indicators, including inflation, exchange rate movements, interest rate trends, and other related variables, to provide a clearer picture of the current economic landscape.

During H1 2025, the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) cut the interest rates twice, in April and May, by a total of 3.25%. Accordingly, the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, main operation rate, and discount rate stood at 24%, 25%, 24.50%, and 24.5%, respectively.
In January, Egypt’s annual headline inflation rate recorded 23.95%. The rate continued to decline over the following months, reaching 14.9% in June. Notably, February saw a sharp drop to 12.84%, primarily due to a favorable base effect and stable monthly price trends.
The USD to EGP exchange rate averaged EGP 50.51 during the first six months of the year. It declined from EGP 50.46 in January to EGP 50.07 in June. In April, the exchange rate surged to an average of EGP 51.12, amid global economic uncertainty and US tariff measures.
Egypt’s net international reserves (NIR) increased from $47.3 billion in January to $48.7 billion in June, reflecting an overall growth rate of 3%. Meanwhile, gold reserves, a key component of NIR, grew by 19% during H1 2025.
In its first meeting in 2025, the Automatic Fuel Pricing Committee raised fuel prices by around 15%. Octane-fuel prices now range between EGP 15.75 and EGP 19 per liter, while diesel prices increased from EGP 13.5 to EGP 15.5 per liter.
Gold started the year with an average price of the 21-karat at EGP 3,815 per gram. The price increase continued, recording a peak of EGP 4,734 in June following the start of the Iran-Israel War. This represented a 25% increase since the beginning of 2025.

By: Amina Hussein