Egypt’s inflation hits 10% in February as F&B rates spiral

Egypt’s inflation hits 10% in February as F&B rates spiral

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Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics announced that the nationwide annual inflation rate has risen to 10 percent in February compared to 4.9 percent during the same month last year.

This spike is driven mainly by a 20-percent increase in prices of food and beverages, namely vegetables, meat and poultry, according to the CAPMAS statement released to the local media on Thursday. The data also show that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen from 119.1 pts in January to 121.4 pts in February, marking a two-percent increase.

According to a Capital Economics analysis of the data, the headline rate, which covers urban consumer only, has reached a near three-year high of 8.8 percent y-o-y in February. This rate is bound to follow an upward an upward curve over the coming months due to soaring global food and energy prices and the government’s intention to reduce bread subsidies, according to the London-based economic research consultancy firm.

Last month, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that his cabinet would increase the price of subsidized bread for the first time in 33 years. He added that the government needs to reduce the financial gap between the actual cost of a loaf of bread