Economy Egypt’s inflation rate accelerates to 32.7% in May By Reuters June 11, 2023 Reuters/Shokry Hussien Inflation has risen sharply over the last year after a series of currency devaluations starting in March 2022 Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rate in May accelerated to 32.7 percent from 30.6 percent in April, data from the country’s statistics agency Capmas showed on Saturday, approaching an all-time record and higher than analysts had expected. Month-on-month, urban inflation increased to 2.7 percent from 1.7 percent in April. Inflation has risen sharply over the last year after a series of currency devaluations starting in March 2022, a prolonged shortage of foreign currency and continuing delays in getting imports into the country. The annual figure is close to an all-time peak of 32.952 percent in July 2017. The median forecast of 13 analysts polled had suggested consumer inflation would climb to 31.4 percent in May. The higher-than-expected inflation was “driven largely by higher food prices. The food and beverage index jumped 4.7 percent month on month compared to 2.2 percent in April,” said Allen Sandeep of Naeem Brokerage, who had forecast 31.5 percent. “Our view is that this is explained by hikes in some ration card items and indirectly by the increase in diesel, which impacted transportation costs.” Egypt has devalued its currency by half since March 2022 after fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed its economic vulnerabilities. The government secured a $3 billion financial support package from the International Monetary Fund in December.
