Egypt’s annual inflation records 13.9% in February

CAIRO – 10 March 2019: Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation fell to 13.9 percent in February 2019, compared to 14.3 percent in February 2018, state-statistics body said Sunday, March 10.

In January, Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation recorded 12.2 percent, compared to 17 percent in the same month of 2018.

On a monthly basis, inflation increased 1.8 percent in February, recording 304.2 points, compared to 298.8 points in January, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said.

CAPMAS attributed the hike in inflation on a monthly basis to the increase of food and drinks commodities' prices by 3.3 percent on a monthly basis and 15.3 percent on a year-on-year basis, as vegetables prices' rose by 8 percent; chickens by 9.8 percent; and milk, cheese and eggs by 1 percent.

At the urban level, the annual inflation rate for February 2019 reached 14.4 percent, while on a monthly basis the rate rose 1.7 percent to hit 295.7 percent, compared to 290.7 percent in January.

As per the rural level, the annual inflation rate hit 14.3 percent, while on the monthly level, the rate recorded 314.3 points, compared to 308.5 points, with an increase of 1.9 percent.

In the period from January to December 2018, the inflation rate hit 14.1 percent.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expected Egypt’s inflation to decline to 20.9 percent in 2018, compared to 23.5 percent in 2017, anticipating it to reach 14 percent in 2019 and 7 percent in 2023.

Inflation surged in Egypt since the floatation of the Egyptian pound in November 2016, reaching a high record level in July due to energy subsidy cuts, and gradually easing since July.