Egypt’s annual inflation hits 2.7% in November: CAPMAS

CAIRO - 10 December 2019: Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation recorded 2.7 percent in November 2019, compared to 15.6 percent in November 2018, state-statistics body said Dec. 10.

In October, Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation declined to 3.1 percent in October 2019, compared to 4.8 percent in September 2019.

On a monthly basis, inflation decreased 0.5 percent in November, recording 104.6 points, compared to 1 percent in October, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said.

CAPMAS attributed the decrease in inflation to the decrease in prices of some commodities during the month, as vegetables prices dipped by about 4.3 percent, dairy and fruits by 3.5 percent, fish by 1.8 percent, meat by 1.7 percent, cereals and bread by 1.3 percent, culture and entertainment by 2.1 percent, and transportation by 0.4 percent.

It also referred to the increase in the prices of the clothing and footwear by 1.3 percent.
At the urban level, the annual inflation rate for November 2019 rose to 3.6 percent, down from 3.1 percent in October.

Earlier, CAPMAS revealed that inflation during January-to-July period of 2019 recorded 11.7 percent, compared to the same period of 2018. 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 reach 14 percent in 2019 and 7 percent in 2023.

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