Egypt’s annual inflation hits 13.2% in May

CAIRO – 10 June 2019: Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation rose to 13.2 percent in May 2019, compared to 11.5 percent in May 2018, state-statistics body said Monday, June 10.

In April, Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation fell to 12.5 percent.

On a monthly basis, inflation increased 1 percent in May, recording 311.1 points, compared to 308.1 points in April, 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 1.3 percent, as fruits prices' rose by 18.1 percent; meat and chicken by 3.6 percent; cereals and bread by 0.7 percent; and fish and sea food by 1.2 percent, as well as the hike of ready-made clothes by 1.3 percent, ready-meals by 1.3 percent, and organized tours by 0.8 percent.

At the urban level, the annual inflation rate for May 2019 reached 14.1 percent, up from 13 percent in April.

Egypt is currently witnessing an inflationary season, started with Ramadan, and including Islamic feasts and the beginning of the new fiscal year with subsidy cuts, with expected hike in inflation during May and June.

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.

Egypt targets an inflation rate of 13 percent in its fiscal year 2018/2019 budget.