Egypt’s annual inflation reaches 12.5% in April

CAIRO – 9 May 2019: Egypt’s annual consumer price inflation fell to 12.5 percent in April 2019, compared to 12.9 percent in April 2018, state-statistics body said Sunday, May 9.

On a monthly basis, inflation increased 0.4 percent in April, recording 308.1 points, compared to 307 points in March, 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 0.3 percent, as fruits prices' rose by 12.9 percent; fish and sea food by 5.6 percent; cereals and bread by 0.9 percent; ready-made clothes by 2.3 percent, and organized tours by 4.5 percent.

At the urban level, the annual inflation rate for April 2019 reached 13 percent, while on a monthly basis the rate rose 0.5 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.
Egypt targets an inflation rate of 13 percent in its fiscal year 2018/2019 budget.