Economy Egypt’s inflation rate rises to near four-year high By Reuters October 11, 2022 REUTERS/Bryan Woolston Core inflation climbed to an annual 18% in September from 16.7% the prior month, shows data from the country's statistics agency. Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rose to a slightly faster-than-expected 15 percent in September, its highest in almost four years, data from the country’s statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Monday. The inflation rate sped up from August’s 14.6 percent year on year, according to CAPMAS data, to the highest level since November 2018, when it hit 15.7 percent. Core inflation climbed to an annual 18.0 percent in September from 16.7 percent the prior month. A Reuters poll of nine economists had expected inflation to come in at 14.7 percent and core inflation at 17.0 percent. The pick-up in inflation was caused by a higher-than-forecast month-on-month increase in prices, which rose by 1.6 percent in September, pushed up mainly by food and tobacco prices, Naeem Brokerage said in a note. Egypt’s central bank, whose Monetary Policy Committee meets next on November 3, targets a rate between five percent and nine percent, but in June said it expected inflation to exceed the target in the fourth quarter before subsequently declining.
