Inflationary pressures to decline: Beltone

CAIRO – 11 April 2018: Beltone Financial expects the inflationary pressures to decline as a result of the slower growth of cash liquidity in February, according to a Tuesday report.

The report clarified that the monthly rise in domestic cash liquidity decreased 1.3 percent in February from 1.6 percent in January, adding that money supply slipped by 0.2 percent on a monthly basis, supporting the continuation of the downward trend of inflation.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced Tuesday the drop of the annual consumer price to 13.1 percent in March 2018.

On a monthly basis, inflation increased 1 percent in March to record 269.8 points, compared to 267 points in February, CAPMAS said.

Moreover, the annual core inflation rate declined to 11.59 percent in March 2018 from 11.88 percent in February 2018, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Due to the decline of inflation, Beltone anticipated that the interest rates will be cut by 100 basis points in the upcoming meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in May.

The report said that it expects a total cut of the interest rates by 400 basis points during fiscal year 2017/2018.

In February, the MPC lowered the interest rates by 1 percent for the first time since the flotation of the Egyptian currency in November 2016, after inflation rates slowed down. The committee again cut the rates by another 1 percent at the end of March.