Egypt's annual core inflation records 3.8% in June: CBE

CAIRO – 10 June 2021: The annual core inflation rate recorded 3.8 percent in June 2021, compared to 3.4 percent in May 2021, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said in a statement Thursday.

The Consumer Price Index in Egypt has recorded a monthly rate of 0.1 percent in June, compared to -0.3 percent for the same month last year, and to 0.3 percent in May 2021, the statement added.

Core inflation discounts or strips out certain categories that are considered more volatile.

Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation declined to 5.3 percent in June 2021, compared to 6 percent in May 2020, state-statistics body said Thursday.

On a monthly basis, inflation recorded 113.2 points in June 2021, marking an increase of 0.3 percent compared to May 2021, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said.

CAPMAS attributed the rise in inflation to the increase in the prices of the group of oils and fats by 13.5 percent, the group of dairy, cheese and eggs by 1.6 percent, and the group of goods and services used in home maintenance by 0.3 percent.

It also referred to the increase in the group of outpatient services by 0.8 percent, the group of medical products, devices and equipment by 0.2 percent, the group of transportation services by 0.5 percent, and the group of organized tourism trips by 3.3 percent.

The agency indicated that this rise despite the decrease in the prices of vegetables group by 2.8 percent, meat and pourtly group by 1.5 percent, and ready-made clothes group by 0.7 percent.

According to the announcement, Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation accelerated to 4.9 percent in June from 4.8 percent in May.

Inflation remains within the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) target range of 9 percent, plus or minus 3 percentage points, despite the precautionary measures taken aiming to curb the spread of coronavirus that are expected to raise the rate of inflation.