The benchmark interest rate a central bank sets to steer the economy; it flows directly into mortgage and development-finance costs, so a hike from the CBE or Saudi Central Bank cools transaction volumes.
Related terms
- Public-private partnership (PPP)
A cooperative arrangement between government and private parties to deliver assets or services.
- Purchasing power
The quantity of goods and services a unit of currency can buy; it falls as inflation rises, which is why affordability analysis must use real, not nominal, inc…
- Real vs nominal
Nominal values are stated in current money; real values strip out inflation to show true change in purchasing power.
- Recession
A sustained contraction in economic output, conventionally two consecutive quarters of falling GDP; it suppresses absorption, widens the demand-supply gap, and…
- Remittances
Money sent home by workers abroad; in Egypt they are the largest single source of foreign currency and a dominant driver of residential demand, especially off-…
- Special economic zone (SEZ)
An area with distinct regulations and incentives to attract investment and industry.
- Transit-oriented development
Compact, mixed-use development focused around public-transport nodes.
- Urban sprawl
Low-density, car-dependent expansion of a city into its periphery; Cairo's desert satellite cities and Lagos's outward growth are textbook cases with heavy inf…